Ticking Timebomb
by ClaireShepardHKKY
Summary: Morimoto Kasumi is a highly trained, socially challenged martial artist who meets Keiko and Kuwabara at the end of their Sophomore year of high school. Her identical twin sister Hitomi has disappeared and now Kasumi has made it her life's mission to get her back, going as far as joining the Tokyo police force. But who's behind Hitomi's disappearance and what do they want? Hiei/OC
1. Enter Kasumi

**A/N: **Hello and welcome, as you might have noticed this is a Yu Yu Hakusho fic and is in fact a Hiei/OC but that won't come around for some time. It is set after Yusuke's time in the Makai by exactly one year. Kuwabara, Keiko, and Kurama are all finished with high school and are planning to attend a University. In Kurama's case, as he is one year older (in human years) he has already finished one year at Uni. Yusuke bothered to finish his junior high education but opted out of going to High school as it would be too "troublesome" and Keiko had already finished while he was away anyway. That makes Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Keiko 19 years old, while Kurama is 20. Yusuke does own the Ramen stand. Figured I should give a tiny bit of back story before starting the fic. Also, I have another fic on here called Atlas Shrugged that I'm still working on but I started it years ago and don't much like how it is turning out. Especially after I went on an extremely long hiatus, my writing style has changed a bit and I wanted to give a different type of story a go. I am really going to try my best on this one. I am also going to try writing from the first person perspective, which will be a first fan fic wise for me. Excuse the super long author's note I am sure you guys didn't bother to read! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do own my original characters and that's something at least. I'm not making any money from writing this.

**Warnings: **As with any of my fics I always put some warnings in, I am a mature adult so more than likely there will be mature themes in this fic. There will definitely be foul language, violence, blood and gore and possibly some sexual themes later on. It is rated M for a reason so please do not read if you're a sensitive type of person. Also, this is Un-Beta, so forgive any mistakes I will inevitably make no matter how much I edit and updates will only come when I have the time or I feel like updating, not a second sooner. If you can put up with the sporadic updates you're awesome.

**. . .**

I was six years old when my parents died. I don't remember much of them anymore, which is slightly depressing but I have photos that help me recall their faces when I feel like I'm starting to forget too much. It was winter then and a fresh layer of snow had fallen that night. My sister, Hitomi, and I had been spending time with our grandparents for the holiday season and we were tucked safely into our beds when the call came. My grandmother knew immediately that something was wrong. No one called their home that early in the morning. I could hear her crying from upstairs, well after the sun rose.

Our grandparents having to sit us down and break the news that we would be living with them from then on had been just as hard on them as it had been on us. My little five year old self could not fathom why it had become necessary for Hitomi and me to move away. I conveniently blocked out the fact I would never see my parents again. In all honesty… I was a brat.

I put a lot of strain and anguish on my grandparents after my world was shattered to pieces. Hitomi was more tolerant but I caught her crying in her bed almost every night.

My grandparents were very old, even at that time but they took good care of us until we had both turned 16. Hitomi and I were twins, but we didn't share the same birthday. I was born at 11:58 PM on December 1st and Hitomi was born at 12:01 AM on December 2nd making me the older twin by three minutes. My mom had told us her and our dad had to battle their way to the hospital in the middle of a blizzard.

It was one of my father's favorite stories to tell us because he had been so scared he might have ended up needing to deliver us himself. My dad was a respectable man, but certainly no doctor. He was a humble college professor – all his students had loved him but that was to be expected. My dad…he was a sweet man. He had always freely given love and support to people in need.

As for my mother, she had worked as a waitress at a diner most of her life. So long she had been there, that is where my parents had met and fallen in love. After my mother's untimely death, the diner's owner had closed the place down only a few short years later. They had built an apartment complex in its place.

Anyway, at 16 my grandparents had simply become too old to provide for us and me, being much more responsible by then, set out to find a new place for my sister and me. The job hunt had come first, and much like my mom I ended up a waitress at some high end restaurant I was forced to dress up for every day. As for Hitomi, she found work at a department store selling beauty products. She hated every second of it.

We moved out of my grandparents with no resentment in our hearts, but a little bit of pain for having to leave them. Pain that would become worse when they died a couple of years later, a mere months apart from each other, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

The apartment we eventually found within our salary was in a shadier part of the city – We lived in Yokohama at the time, though eventually I moved to Tokyo – and Hitomi's job required her to take a bus and then walk another four blocks to reach our building.

I really wish I had been able to force her to take martial arts classes (I took a mixed class of Judo and Karate, as well as joining the Kendo club the entire time I attended school) but Hitomi had a softer continence than I did. She went missing on her way home from work, January 1st 1994.

Three years later and the police had not found a single piece of evidence. It was now stored away in Cold Case Files, chalked up as a runaway or lost cause, whichever. Hitomi's disappearance is what spurred me on through every major event that has occurred in my life up till now.

At 18 I attended the Tokyo Police Academy and graduated a year later second in my class. I started my training immediately out of high school and all my years of martial arts and Kendo made me a perfect candidate for a precinct. I was hired quickly by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, but under the stipulation that I attended University at the department's expense to further my education in law enforcement. I work in the Criminal Investigation Bureau, 4th Division: Burglary, Kidnapping, and Blackmail, Precinct 101.

I was proud of myself for being able to join Division 4 right off the bat. It would give me a better chance to accomplish my ultimate goal of finding Hitomi, providing me with all the resources I should ever need.

So here I am: I start college October 1st at The University of Tokyo. I also happened to get lucky enough to end up attending a school that two of my best friends will also be attending, making the transition from high school much easier on me. I met them both my junior year and I've always been thankful that I have. Even after graduation, we met up on weekends when I had time off from the Academy.

Even with friends to keep me sane, the thought of my sister weighs heavily on my mind every single day. I will never rest until I find her.

**. . .**

It was unseasonably cold for the end of September so I had been forced to pull out one of my many sweaters (I've been told that I have far too many, from gaudy holiday styled ones to ripped up, old comfy ones and every style in between) to throw over my simple red top. I took little notice of what I had chosen and only cared it did not happen to be a holiday one.

I had gotten a call early that morning from my best friend asking if I wanted to go apartment hunting. My current apartment's lease was up in a week and my best friend was just starting the exciting journey of moving out of her parents' home.

As soon as I had informed her a month ago that my apartment's lease was up soon (and the tiny, rundown little place I would certainly not miss) she had suggested we get an apartment together. We would be attending the same university, albeit for different degrees, so it made sense to get an apartment closer to the college. As fate would have it, my precinct was also only a ten minute drive from the university. I promptly informed her if we could find one nearby both I would be more than willing to get a place with her.

And so the hunt had begun, but no matter how many places we looked at none of them had been right. Or they were perfect but out of our price range. All the while, my friend was doing this secretly. She planned to tell her parents a_fter_ she had settled on a new place to live, but not a second before because they would 'talk her out of it' supposedly.

…I've never seen anyone talk her out of anything. Believe me, I have tried.

I quickly pulled on a pair of discarded jeans that clung to my hips, but hung loosely everywhere else. I would surely catch hell for wearing them, because they were too closely related to men's jeans, as I had been informed on more than one occasion. I sniffed a pair of socks that were lying on the floor and deeming them fit to wear, pulled those over my cold feet.

My apartment was one room, except for the bathroom, and the kitchen was blocked off by one single wall, but it didn't really count as it had been built more for counter space than anything. There was a large opening that looked out into the living room, making the wall null and void. My living room doubled as a bedroom, I had a futon thrown down on the floor only a few feet away from my television. I made the bed neatly (though I always left the rest of my apartment a complete mess) and shuffled over to the bathroom.

I quickly brushed my teeth before roughly pulling a comb through my tangled locks. My hair was a vibrant shade of red (and let's make one thing very clear, my hair is re_d _not _orange_. Please do not confuse it) and it hung in long waves down to the middle of my back. I remember someone from my childhood telling me it looked like someone had lit my skull on fire. I had also often been picked on for my hair color.

After all, who was I trying to kid? It was _orange_, but perhaps a darker shade than a certain friend of mine's. It just wasn't a natural color for someone of full blooded Japanese descent. That never stopped me from growing it out though and I took great pride in my hair.

I pushed it back from my face, tying it up in a high pony-tail and using a hair pin to keep my bangs out of my eyes. I grabbed my contacts off the side of the sink but gave them a look of disdain and quickly changed my mind. I didn't really feel like putting those in today. Contacts were great, especially for a police cadet, but they were one of my sworn enemies. It took me nearly 15 minutes on a good morning to get them into my eyes. On a bad morning it could take up to half an hour.

Setting them aside, I instead headed for the small table by my front door where I usually dropped my keys, change, cell phone and glasses alike into a little ceramic bowl painted with red poppies. Above the table were hooks for hats but I used them specifically to hang my precinct issued police jacket and gun holster. The pistol itself was always removed and unloaded; I kept the gun close at hand at all times. The magazine and gun were hidden under my pillow at night and during the day I used a shoulder holster to keep it concealed. In the summer I was forced to wear my belt holster, as it would be pretty obvious if I had a gun hidden underneath one of my shirts.

Unfortunately, I would no longer be able to carry it on me while attending classes. The perks of being a police officer gave me permission to carry a concealed weapon even off duty but the campus would never allow a weapon to enter its grounds, even if I could provide documentation of my status as a cop. I would just have to be happy being able to carry it while on duty and on days I didn't have classes. If need for protection should arise I also had a regular size can and keychain version of police grade mace.

Ah, good ole mace. I had firsthand experience with the rancid stuff, as I had been lucky enough to be chosen as the test subject for my class at the Academy. It still got talked about to this day. Apparently, for everyone else anyway, it had been hilarious.

Banishing the memory in irritation, I strapped on the shoulder holster and, checking to make sure there were bullets loaded as well as the safety being on, I shoved my pistol into its home at my side. In the process I had been forced to take off my sweater and I got a better look at it this time. It had been a Christmas present some years ago and was a bit fancier than I would have liked, considering the pants I had on, but I pulled the soft grey wool over my head again anyway.

I slipped my glasses behind my ears, settling the large lenses over my nose and breathing out a sigh of relief when my vision cleared. I had fairly poor vision, but enough that I could get away with not wearing any corrective lenses as long as I didn't have to see anything from too far a distance. Mostly, things were a bit blurry up close but given a certain amount of distance all I could see were colored blobs.

I bent down to pull my white trainers on, my long pony-tail falling over my shoulder and brushing my neck, causing me to shiver. I tied the laces tightly before standing up, grabbing my keys and walking out my front door. Locking up and stuffing my hands into my jean's pockets, I whistled some made up tune as I traversed my way through the dilapidated hallway with its pealing wallpaper and unidentifiable smells.

…Yeah, I sure wouldn't miss this place.

**. . .**

"Kasumi!"

I smiled as I turned to greet my friend. I'd been sitting on the bench in front of our favorite coffee shop for the past five minutes awaiting her arrival. I was surprised at her tardiness, not that it hadn't happened before, but she made it a habit to be extremely punctual. Five minutes was really nothing, but to this girl, even five minutes was considered rude as well as unacceptable.

She confirmed my thoughts a moment later, when she proceeded to apologize profusely for making me wait.

"Mah, mah Keiko-chan. It's no big deal." I used hand motions to convey I wanted her to calm down.

But Yukimura Keiko only continued to apologize as if she hadn't even heard me. I rolled my eyes and just decided to wait it out. I could see that her dark brown hair had grown again, as she was wearing it down today, and it easily reached past her shoulders. Soon enough she will have caught up to me. Keiko had dressed nicely, as usual, with a long pale blue skirt held up by an attractive brown belt and a light grey wool sweater. Actually, it looked pretty similar to mine. To finish the look she had a small leather bag thrown over her left shoulder.

After a good solid minute of, "I'm sorries," "it won't happen agains," and "I promise it wasn't my faults," I'd had enough.

"Okay, Keiko, it's seriously fine. It was only five minutes and I would really love a cup of coffee now."

Coffee, by far, was my favorite beverage. I could never start a morning properly without it. It had been wonderfully convenient when we discovered this coffee shop almost directly centered between our two places of residence; Keiko's parent's restaurant and my dingy, old apartment complex. By default it had become our halfway meeting point and if one of us needed each other it was the place we always looked first.

I entered the front door quickly, as Keiko had finally taken in my attire and I could see her eye twitching, the bell tinkled brightly overhead and I was greeted cheerfully by the two teens working behind the counter that morning. I waved back with a smile of my own.

It was a Saturday and given the time of morning, it was very busy in the little café. Keiko and I ended up having to wait in a seriously long line, causing me to sigh in annoyance.

"This is going to take all day."

Keiko giggled from behind me, "Oh, no it won't. Look who's working the counter today, Irumi-chan and Kenichi-kun. I've never seen anyone make a coffee so well or so fast when compared to those two."

We came to this particular shop so often that we were on a first name basis with most of its employees. Strictly on weekends, so it wouldn't conflict with their studies, worked Irumi and Kenichi, they were a brother and sister duo and it was almost guaranteed that they would end up in an argument on a busy day like today. Luckily for them, most of the customers found this quite comical, I being one of those customers.

I loved this place, with its brightly painted walls and cheerful, upbeat atmosphere. The décor consisted of leather upholstered booths and blown up framed quotes from famous books and authors hanging on its walls. The large bay window that faced out into the street had an array of different flowers in many pots displayed beautifully in the attempt to attract more customers into the shop. The floor beneath my feet was so well worn that you couldn't even tell what the original color had been if you tried.

Don't even get me started on the smell either, it makes me drool just thinking about it, and now here I was standing in the middle of it, coffee deprived and starving. I tried to pay more attention to the soft music they had playing over the radio than to the grumbling in my stomach or the delicious looking sweets in the display case. I could see out of the corner of my eye, as I stood turned halfway towards my friend and half towards the back of the dude in front of me in line, that Keiko was eyeing me with disapproval once again.

"What?" I finally snapped.

"Oh, aren't we cranky this morning?" She said sarcastically.

"Keiko-chan, it is 7 AM and I haven't had a single cup of coffee, what do you want from me?"

"Morimoto Kasumi, you know exactly what I want from you!"

She waved her hand up and down my body, obviously displeased with my semi-manly attire.

"The only nice thing you have on today is that sweater Kuwabara bought you two Christmases ago and I can tell that you have a _gun – " _she whispered the word like it was a sin, "beneath that same sweater!"

"Keiko, get over the gun, it has been on my person every day since I joined the precinct months ago and in fact, you should be used to it. I've been carrying a pistol on me since I joined the academy."

The guy in front of me had turned around to give me a look of alarm, but all I did was flick a glare at him and it had him turning back around pretty darn quick. Damn nosey assholes.

"Well, yes, but you didn't carry it out every day! You only used to take it if we were going to a different part of the city…or somewhere at night."

She huffed indignantly at me, causing me to laugh at her and turn back around in line. As Keiko had predicted it was moving much faster than I thought it would.

For a moment I thought she had dropped the conversation, but that short instant of relief was quickly swiped from my grasp when she said, "That thing you carry with you all the time isn't the point, the point is you are wearing men's pants and those granny like glasses of yours on top of it."

"And once again, I am going to ask why the hell my appearance matters so much to you?"

"And once again, "she was mocking me at this point, "I will tell you it is because I care and if you ever want to find a proper boyfriend you can't be caught walking around like that."

Ah, the old boyfriend spiel again. How did I know this was coming?

"I'm not interested in dating. I just joined the force and I don't want a relationship mucking up my career."

"That's the excuse you give now, but back in high school it was always because you were in too many clubs, or the even more stupid reason, that you would be a burden on the poor man's soul."

That was true, back in high school I truly believed that my past would be an issue for anyone I happened to date. I held onto that belief to this day. My past would only become worse now that I've joined the police force. Could you imagine coming home to tell your significant other that you had been forced to shoot someone that day? Yeah, I never wanted to have to do that.

I rolled my dark slate grey eyes at her once again, deciding to blatantly ignore her for now. Keiko already had a boyfriend, one that had gone mysteriously missing all through her time in high school. I had only heard stories about him, and albeit very few, but he had randomly returned one day a little over a year ago. Keiko spent a lot of time with him now but she still managed to meet with me at least once a week.

I had asked her once if her boyfriend knew where she went every Saturday but she had informed me that it didn't matter because Yusuke (her boyfriend's name was Urameshi Yusuke and besides Keiko's obvious infatuation with him, that is about all I knew) went away to visit people on the weekend's too. The only truly surprising thing I had learned about him in the past year was that our mutual friend from high school, Kuwabara Kazuma, was best friends with the guy.

Kazuma-kun also seemed to shirk around the subject of Yusuke, but had divulged to me once that they used to get into fist fights almost daily. He had recalled the time fondly and had made me extremely confused during his retelling. Who likes getting beat up every day? Not that I could talk, I'd had my ass handed to me on several occasions during Judo and Kendo club and that never stopped me.

I was elated when we finally reached the counter, the two fighting siblings bickering loudly and causing me to smile. They stopped their argument momentarily to almost simultaneously greet Keiko and me before turning their backs on us (all while yelling about how stupid the other was) and preparing our order. We came here almost every Saturday and those two never had to ask what we wanted. It was always the same thing.

Two little paper bags were placed on the counter in front of us, mine containing a chocolate filled cookie and hers a sweet bun, respectively. Keiko only ate junk for breakfast on Saturday's with me but had still stuck to one of the tamer pastries on the menu.

Irumi and Kenichi had made it into a race to see who could complete their designated order faster. Poor Kenichi had been jilted from the start though, not that I felt bad for him as he should have known better, but my coffee was so simple to make a monkey could do it. Not that I would _ever _tell the hotheaded Irumi that.

I always drank it the same way, dark and hot. Keiko figured I'd like my men that way too – if I ever bothered to date that was. I had only been in one serious relationship my whole life (which had ended so bad I refuse to talk about it) and Keiko completely disapproved of my choice in partners, which more often than not were one night stands I promptly forgot about the day after. This happened rarely, but somehow she could always tell when I'd brought someone home. She's irritatingly intuitive.

Irumi knocked me out of my reverie by placing my paper coffee cup in front of me triumphantly, turning to stick her tongue out at her younger brother who squawked indignantly and hurried to finish Keiko's coffee. Keiko liked hers sweet, with a bit of vanilla flavoring and lots of cream. I found it completely disgusting.

It took Kenichi only a few extra seconds to get Keiko's coffee to her. I handed the black haired Irumi (so different from her blonde headed sibling) the money for both orders and then stuffed a generous tip into the jar on the counter. Keiko and I alternated the days we paid, unless Kazuma was with us. No matter how many times in a row we went together, if he was there, he never let either one of us pay. Something about his code of honor and chivalry and some of that other flowery crap he liked to talk about.

We thanked the two teens, not sticking around to chat during such a busy hour, and they enthusiastically waved as we left before taking care of the next customer in line. Keiko took my free arm, the one without the coffee but still carrying my sweet treat, and happily walked out the door with me.

We took our regular seat on the bench in front of the big bay window to enjoy our breakfast and take a moments respite before the daunting amount of walking we were sure to be doing after. I really hoped we would find a place today…I was getting sick of having to dig things I needed out my already packed boxes. Not to mention if we don't find a place soon, I'm either going to have to re-up my lease on that shitty apartment or find a place without her.

I don't really want to do that. The idea of moving in with my best friend had kept me in a good mood for weeks, I would hate for it to end now.

I finished off my cookie, wiping crumbs off my front and taking notice that Keiko had only eaten half her bun. It lay dejectedly in her hand which was resting in her lap. Why did she suddenly look so sad?

"Keiko, are you alright?"

She jumped at my words, obviously having been lost in thought, but turned to me and shook her head.

"Come on, don't lie to me. What's on your mind?"

She bought time by stuffing the rest of her sweet bun into her mouth in a very un-Keiko like fashion and I could see she was trying to gather her thoughts. I waited patiently, knowing she would spill the beans eventually.

When she finally did I was a little surprised by what she had to say, and also a bit disheartened, "Yusuke doesn't want me to move out of my parents'."

My face scrunched up in displeasure and I took a long sip of my coffee before I answered her.

"Are you going to listen to him?"

Keiko laughed, "No, he has good reasons as to why he doesn't want me to but the one he kept going on about was you."

"What!?" I asked, alarmed. Why the hell would he have a problem with me?

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear in embarrassment, "It's my own fault. I should have brought him to meet you sooner."

"That still doesn't really answer my question…"

"I told him about you just a couple of weeks ago. So far, the only things he had heard about you were from Kazuma. He had been lead to believe that you were only his friend, apparently."

"Oh, and what did Kazuma tell him? Something bad by the sound of things!"

She giggled again, and once again I was slightly envious of Keiko's easy to come by femininity, she was so unlike me. Sometimes I had a hard time believing she was my friend, simply because of how different we were.

"Of course he didn't say anything bad Kasumi, Kazuma likes you."

I placed a mock look of shock on my face, gasping dramatically and slapping a hand over my gaping mouth.

"Likes me?!"

"Not like that and you know it!"

I patted her on the back so she would know I was only joking. Of course Kazuma didn't, the only person he had ever liked was a woman by the name of Yukina. He had sung her many praises over the years and I had been lead to believe they would make the perfect couple… that is, if he ever grew a pair and was honest with her. From what I had been told, he was dating her, but she was pretty oblivious about how serious he was. I spent many hours entertaining myself with picking on him to death about it. For some reason, he never did appreciate that bonding time as much as I did. I wonder why?

I switched the topic back to the more pressing matter, Keiko's boyfriend's unwarranted dislike of me.

"So, why doesn't Yusuke like me then?"

"It's not that he doesn't like you, Kasumi…he just doesn't trust you."

"I'm a goddamn cop, what is there not to trust?"

"I am under the firm belief it is because he has not met you. Once he does, he will see reason."

I snorted disdainfully into my coffee. I doubt that. While I didn't know too much about Yusuke, I did know that he was stubborn. I had a feeling that if he had already settled on not liking me than that was the way it was going to stay.

A thought occurred to me then and I decided to voice it to Keiko, "Do you think it's because he wants you to move in with him?"

A pretty blush spread across her cheeks, but she was shaking her head, "No, Yusuke has an apartment of his own but that is something I wanted to discuss with you."

"Okay, sure."

"Well, would you have a problem with him staying with us?" I kept my face blank and it caused her a bit of panic, as she started flapping her arms around, "I mean not all the time or anything! Just sometimes, because – "

She cut off the end of her sentence; falling quiet once more but the ruddy color of her cheeks lead me to believe there was something more to her wanting him around.

"Oi, Keiko-chan…did he _propose_ to you?"

If it was possible her face turned even redder, but a brilliant smile had stretched across her features. I had always thought that my friend had a beautiful smile.

"How do you do that Kasumi? It's like you can read minds!"

I chuckled, I certainly couldn't read minds, but I had spent enough time with Keiko over the years to be able to read her pretty easily. She was an open book if you looked hard enough.

"Mind reading aside, I want to hear about this proposal."

"I turned him down…again."

I frowned at my friend in confusion. Wasn't this the second time she had turned him down then? I remember her telling me he had proposed before he left, but she had turned him down then for obvious reasons. To turn him down now didn't really make sense to me.

"Why, Keiko-chan?"

She smiled a sad little smile, "It just isn't the right time."

I knew she was hiding something but I let it drop, not wanting to upset her. I rose from the bench, ready to start our day, and held out a hand for Keiko. She took it gratefully, and hand in hand, we started our trek to go apartment viewing. I sighed once more – today was going to be a long day.

**. . .**

After viewing several different apartments and coming up empty handed Keiko had suggested we go out to lunch. With slumped shoulders, both of us discouraged and tired, we made our way to a fast food place. Grabbing a simple meal, I scarfed mine down quickly but I ended up having to wait for Keiko to finish hers. She admonished me, saying that eating too fast was bad for my health, like I care.

As soon as she finished her burger, I threw out our trash and ushered her out the door. We still had three places on Keiko's list to look at and one of them was about a twenty minute walk from where we were. Neither I nor Keiko had a car, but Kazuma did. I wished he was here, not just because I hadn't seen him in a while, but also so he could chauffeur us around.

We walked to the last one on the list, because it was closest but it only took one look at the front of the building (peeling paint, door left ajar, a bum sitting on the stoop) for us to pass on it. While I might have been okay (as I had lived in shittier apartments) Keiko was too sensitive for such a rundown place. We moved on, deciding to take a chance and walk to the farthest location. Keiko reasoned that we would have to backtrack anyway so we could just stop at the other building later.

As luck would have it, though it had been much farther of a walk than I would have liked, this new building looked much more promising. The outside was well kept and fairly modern, which lead me to believe it would probably be out of our price range. Walking up the front steps I rang the buzzer that was marked 'Landlord' and then waited. The front door was kept locked and could only be opened by someone who lived in the building.

Keiko was impatiently drumming her fingers against one of her crossed arms when the 'Landlord' (or, correction, Landlady) finally came to the door, her bushy grey hair lying in disarray on her shoulders and a look on her face to match the craziness of her appearance. She opened the inside glass door first (the outer part of the door consisting of a surprisingly nice gate) and then barked at as through the gated door.

"What do you two want?"

Keiko smiled kindly, trying to soothe the older woman's obvious irritation at being interrupted from…w_hatever _it was the woman had possibly been doing but the lady just sneered at her, crossing her arms haughtily over her nightgown covered breasts. Why this woman was wearing a nightgown at this time in the afternoon was beyond me.

"We were wondering if we could view the apartment that is available."

She eyed us up critically, greying brows scrunching together and eyes narrowing. "Are you two some kind of lesbian couple?"

Originally Keiko would have sputtered indignantly at such a comment but it had happened so often while in my presence that she had long ago forgotten about the embarrassment it caused her. Now that I think about it that was probably one of the reasons she was so hard on me about what I wore.

She rolled her eyes at the woman, obviously irritated by the comment but answered with a simple, "No, we're just friends. We're looking for a place to live close to the University of Tokyo."

"Ah, college students that makes me feel better. There is one apartment still available on the third floor; it's a two bedroom with a loft." As she explained this she unlocked the gate to allow us to enter.

The woman ushered us up the stairs, as the building didn't appear to have an elevator, but the hallways weren't very large. There were about six apartments per hallway, three doors to each side. The halls were solid wood and several of the apartments had doormats, I noticed some with funny phrases as I walked by that made me laugh. The old woman looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't really care.

The staircases were regular old wood that matched the floors, and as we trekked up to the third floor I didn't have much to look at. The walls were wallpapered in a basic shade of blue; it was pleasant but held no interest for me. Instead I started to count the numbers on the apartment doors, wondering which one would end up being the one we stopped at. I also took notice that this old woman seemed to like her plants – at the end of every hall was a small table with some type of potted plant on its surface. Almost all the pots (except for the one I had taken notice of at the entrance, which contained what looked like pansies) had some type of ivy or other leafy plant in them. The one at the end of the third floor had grown large enough to spill over the sides of the table, dropping dried leaves to the floor.

The landlady noticed me eyeing her plants, "The residents on each floor take turns taking care of them. Unfortunately for this plant, the tenants on this floor are lazy." She gestured to the pile of leaves that had fallen off the plant to shrivel up on the floor.

Besides it being a bit overgrown, it looked like they had at least remembered to water it. Considering that was probably all I would ever do as well, it didn't really matter to me if they were lazy or not.

The old woman stopped at the last door on the left side, the one closest to the damned plant, and unlocked it. The number on the door read 15 and I was glad that we had not been unlucky enough to end up in apartment 13. Unlucky numbers meant bad situations in my book.

Keiko and I entered first, into a small alcove where we were meant to take off our shoes, the genkan slightly lower than the main floor. We removed our shoes, placing them neatly to the side of the door and I took notice of the wall color, a simple off white, airing on the side of crème that brightened up the living space. The landlady ushered us further into the room and Keiko and I turned to each other with twin looks of excited rapture as we spotted the small, but pretty (with a mantle and everything!) fireplace embedded into the far wall.

The floors were solid wood, though a lighter variety than the wood that made up the hallways outside the apartment's door. Off to the right of the living room were a set of stairs that led up to what looked to be a fairly well sized loft and from my vantage point on the bottom floor I could see two doors at each end, one at the top of the stairs and another across the length of the loft.

I took particular interest in the large bay windows spanning almost the entire length of the upper platform that were flooding overcast light into the entire apartment. I wanted to inspect them further but Keiko and the landlady were walking over to a swinging door to the left of us and across the room. The alcove we had entered earlier was apparently the wall to the kitchen.

Outside the kitchen door was a tiny space with another couple of windows I figured would be a good place for a dining table. I also took notice of the fire escape that would be easily accessible through one of those windows. I wander over to take a better look, the cop in me wanting to make sure they were in good shape to be safe to climb down. The metal was a bit rusted, but looked sturdy enough so I nodded in approval and went to follow Keiko.

Entering the kitchen and peering around Keiko's back, I took stock of what there was available. It was smallish, with a wraparound counter and white walls. There was no room for a table, but plenty of room to prepare a meal. I must have been right about the space outside the kitchen being meant for a table.

There were basic appliances, a refrigerator, a small microwave, and stove. The single sink sat in the counter at the far end, below a window only big enough to fit your head through. Luckily, I already owned a small rice cooker, toaster and coffee maker so Keiko and I would have everything we needed in the kitchen department.

Keiko turned to shoot another grin at me as we left the kitchen and headed to the other end of the main room, past the fireplace and towards the far wall beneath the loft. By the time we reached the bathroom, I had already started to get my hopes up. This place was really nice and I would be disappointed if it ended up too good to be true.

The washroom had a small washer and dryer set opposite the sink, a tiled area to spray yourself down, and a plain white bathtub set into the floor. It was nothing special, but had enough room for cabinet space. Next to the washer and dryer was a slatted wooden door and upon inspection I found that it was a place to put towels or other toiletries.

As we headed for the stairs, Keiko fell back behind the old woman (who was groaning about having to walk up the stairs and something about a bum leg) and fell into step beside me.

"So, what do you think of this place Kasumi?" She whispered, holding a hand over her mouth like she was afraid the landlady would read her lips.

I mimicked her, holding a hand over my mouth as well and replied, "I'm kind of in love with it actually, but the fireplace would have done me in anyway."

"Oh I know! It would be great in the winter. Keep your fingers crossed that the rent isn't too high."

I nodded in agreement, taking a minute to send a prayer to Kami the old woman wouldn't be a complete miser. By the time I opened my eyes we had reached the top of the stairs and I stopped to admire the windows up close. They had latches so you could push them open and breaking them into sections of 6 large windows, they could have easily fit someone's entire body. What excited me most of all though, was the navy blue cushioned window seat that would be perfect to curl up and read a book in or watch the sun rise in the morning.

The loft's floor was made of the same smooth wood as the downstairs and I almost jumped for joy when I realized there was just enough length to the space that I could practice my Judo and Kendo, possibly some of my techniques I had learned over the years. There was a flat railing that connected to the railing on the stairs so there was no possible chance of falling off, unless you jumped over it that is. The floor was made of just the right wood even, it must be fate!

I slid across the floor in my socks in excitement, making the old landlady purse her lips and glower at me. Keiko was giving me a similar look but I just stuck my tongue out at her in immaturity. She should be just as excited as I am.

Then again, I sometimes didn't really know how to act appropriately in public. So perhaps I was being a bit embarrassing. I don't have many social graces and normally stick to myself if possible. The only friends I had made over the years being Keiko and Kazuma, though I did like several of the other officers I worked with. I had also made friends while in the martial arts clubs, from my own schools as well as some from other districts. My name was fairly well known for a little while when I lived in Yokohama, mostly thanks to having consistent wins at school tournaments.

As we entered the first bedroom, I thought about the fact that I could count the people I cared about on one hand and it caused me to frown. Keiko eyed me worriedly but I just shook my head and directed my attention back to the tour.

The bedrooms were simple affairs, both almost identical. They weren't very big but had adequate enough space for a few pieces of furniture and a regular sized bed. Each room had an open closet built into the wall, with sets of drawers underneath where you would normally hang your clothing. They would eliminate the need for a dresser, cutting down on one of the pieces of furniture you would have to stick into the tiny space. Each room also had one single window embedded in the wall furthest from the door.

The only difference the rooms had was the choice of color for the walls. The bedroom at the far end with the window that faced the street had been painted a pretty, bold shade of blue while the bedroom at the top of the stairs had been painted a pastel shade of yellow. I called dibs on the blue room, which seemed to make Keiko happy anyway. I had a feeling she'd prefer the yellow.

The landlady came to stand in the middle of the loft, folding her arms haughtily over her chest once again. "So, do you want the place or have you just been wasting my time?"

I was sorely tempted to be just as rude to this woman as she was to us, but I refrained in fear that she would refuse us the apartment if I did so. Instead, I fearfully asked her, "How much is the rent each month?"

Her eyes narrowed in distaste, but she answered me anyway. "I have always given college students a discount, so it's your lucky day girls. I would be willing to allow you to live here for 150,000¥ a month, utilities included other than telephone and television."

I turned away from the woman to hide my face as I quickly tried to calculate that in my head. In the process I got a nice view of the entire apartment from where I was standing. The space was not too large, but the high ceilings thanks to the loft made it look much more spacious. I wanted this place bad and I had a feeling that Keiko did too.

I make a little over 200,000¥ a month, which means I could afford the apartment on my salary alone but that wouldn't leave me much for anything else. We could do without television as I had a collection of VHS tapes that would last us a lifetime anyway, so that only left expenses for food, necessities, and a telephone line.

I wasn't a complete whiz at math but I figured that I could afford the utilities too, along with groceries, but it would leave me nothing left over. I know Keiko wants to split everything fifty-fifty but it would also count on her parents' reaction to her moving out. If they refused to pay her tuition or even worse, fired her from the Ramen shop, she would have no extra money to pay for anything, let alone rent that expensive.

Should I risk letting this place go, just for that reason? Everything could end up working out just fine after all. If I say no, we may very well lose a wonderful place to live. On the other hand, if I jump the gun and say yes it could backfire in my face. What the hell was I going to do?

I turn to Keiko for advice, but she's already turned back to the landlady and they are discussing something in heated whispers. I move a bit closer so I can hear what they're suddenly arguing about but I'm already too late, as the old woman stands back and yells, "Fine!"

She turns to me with her beady, angry eyes, "I would be willing to drop the rent slightly lower, just because your friend here has told me what you do for a living. I have much respect for the police officers around here; they've been kind enough to keep the kids away from my building. Always, with the graffiti, it's despicable!"

I laugh uncertainly and give the woman a tentative smile, "Oh thank you, that's very kind of you."

"It's not about being kind, it's about giving back to the people that actually work in this god forsaken shit hole."

I was a bit shocked by her language, but her whole demeanor did scream 'old, crotchety, and perpetually pissed off' so I don't know why I was surprised in the first place. I let out a bark of laughter before I can help myself. I think I might end up liking this bitchy old woman.

"Either way, we appreciate it," I say.

In the end, she lowered the rent by 25,000¥, not much but it had been something at least. Not wanting to regret letting the place go, I ended up agreeing to move in (making Keiko hug me in thank you) with the promise of the first and last month's rent. Any damage to the apartment or the items held within it would be paid for by our own expense.

I signed the papers with a flourish, happiness rushing through my veins and a grin a mile wide plastered across my face. When the old lady (whose name I learned was Hirabayashi Chiyoko, but she insisted we call her baba Chiyo now that we would be living under her roof) handed us a set of keys, one for each of us: I don't think I had ever been happier in my life.

As baba Chiyo climbed down the stairs to show us out, I turned to Keiko and high fived her quietly behind the woman's back.

I can't wait to see what this new chapter brings to my life.

**. . .**

**A/N: **So here's chapter one, I've done some research on law enforcement and the police force in Japan, though I am not very knowledgeable on the different districts and what not that are in Tokyo. I know there are 101 precincts, but I am not at all certain where they happen to be located, so much of the city I envision in this story is going to be made up. For all I know there isn't one anywhere near the University of Tokyo, so I just picked number 101 as Kasumi's precinct. I live in North America, but I am going to try my best to make the police force as in character as possible. I hope the apartment scene was not too confusing, I know it was boring as hell, but the apartment is what starts it all, so to speak. None of the guys in this chapter too, but I promise they will be in the next one! Thanks for reading, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome and appreciated but flames will be used to heat my house this winter!

P.S. My penname changed recently to ClaireSheperdHKKY from The Crazi Greek, just an fyi.


	2. New Beginnings

**A/N: **Hello everyone! I hope the first chapter was alright, I need to work on a few things because this is my first time writing in the first person like this. Forgive me for any mistakes, I don't have a beta reader for this so if anyone is willing to volunteer…? No? Okay then. I plan to have this story switch between Kasumi's and Hiei's point of views but I will try to make it a per chapter basis, instead of switching back and forth during one chapter. I can't say it won't happen, because a time may come when it will be necessary, but otherwise I will try to make it the least amount of confusing as possible. Mostly, it will be in Kasumi's POV though. If you couldn't tell, Keiko and Kuwabara have been trying to shield Kasumi from demon related business, which is why she has so little information on Yusuke even though she has known both Keiko and Kuwabara for almost 3 years. That's right, she has no clue. Let the fun ensue. Please read and review! Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, Yoshihiro Togashi does. I'm making no money by writing this but I do get my rocks off from torturing the YYH boys, so that's something.

**Warnings: **These are mostly for later chapters, as the beginning should be fairly mild besides the bad language. There will be sexual themes, foul language, and violence, poorly written fight scenes, blood/gore, awkwardness, and all the fun stuff in between. Enjoy!

**. . .**

My cell phone blared out a loud tune directly next to my ear, causing me to shoot up in bed and look around wildly in confusion. In my state of half wakefulness I reached around clumsily for the phone, having trouble finding it because I wasn't wearing my glasses.

My hand finally nudged the small piece of technology and I grabbed it up, flipping it open quickly so I wouldn't miss the call.

"Moshi, Moshi?" My voice was heavy with sleep, making me sound odd even to my own ears.

"Kasumi, its Keiko."

At the sound of her voice I perked up a bit, becoming a little more alert. "Hey Keiko-chan it's – "I take the phone away from my ear so I can squint at the time on its tiny screen, "pretty early for you to be calling me, isn't it?"

"I know it's only six, but I figured you would be up already and I couldn't wait any longer."

Keiko might have been right on a regular day, but I worked a late shift at the precinct last night. Normally I was an early riser, up before the sun. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with one hand and wandered into my tiny kitchen to make a cup of instant coffee. I had packed my coffee maker some days ago and I'd be damned if I could remember what box it was in.

"Yeah well, I'm awake now. What can I do for you?" There was a stretch of silence that had me suddenly worried that Keiko had hung up on me, but I could still hear her breathing over the line.

But then, "…Kasumi, I have some bad news."

Damn, I had known this was coming. She was going to tell me her parents had refused to let her move out. I had been waiting for this call for days since we settled on our new place of residence. I set my full kettle down on the stove harder than I needed to, making it clang loudly, and then turned the burner up full blast. I would need at least one cup of coffee to make it through this conversation without snapping.

"Oh, come on Keiko, you can't be serious?"

"I am completely serious…you see, as of tomorrow, you are stuck with me indefinitely."

I paused, my sleep addled brain taking a moment to process what I had just heard. "Wait…what?"

Her laughter coming through loud and clear only confused me further until I pushed the last remnants of sleep from my mind and realized she was fucking with me, what a bitch.

"Keiko, that isn't very nice! I thought your parents told you no!"

"If only I could have been there to see your face!"

"Oh ha ha, very funny!"

"I thought it was."

My kettle let out a shrill screech telling me its contents were hot, so I removed it from the stove and poured the steaming liquid into a mug. I grabbed the jar of instant coffee sitting on my counter and a plastic spoon out of the package I had purchased after packing up all my silverware. I dumped two heaping spoonful's into the hot water and stirred until it turned almost black.

"So, they said it was okay then?" I asked.

"Well, they weren't too keen on the idea at first which is why I'm calling you now instead of a couple of days ago. We had to have a family discussion and the only reason they finally agreed was because you're a police officer."

I grinned, of course they would agree for that reason. Sometimes being a cop could really help you out in certain ways – getting people to trust you were one of them. The Yukimura's also knew I had the ability to protect their daughter if the need should ever arise. They had been two of my biggest supporters when I had decided to enter the police academy and it had made me very happy.

"Well I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble convincing them."

"Of course not, I can be very persuasive when I need to be."

I took a sip of my coffee and grimaced, I hated instant. It tasted nothing like a real cup of coffee. I played around with the idea of getting dressed and going to the café, it was sorely tempting, but I still had a little more packing to do. Now that Keiko's parents had agreed to the new arrangement we would be moving in tomorrow. This brought up a few problems though – first of all, we didn't have much in the furniture department. Second problem was how we were going to get all our stuff over there.

"Oi Keiko, do you think Kazuma-kun will help us move?"

"I already asked him and he agreed. He said we could use the truck to get our things back and forth. Yusuke agreed to help too."

This surprised me; last I heard he was still against the idea of Keiko moving. "Oh really, what changed his mind?"

"He hasn't changed his mind but I beat him into submission."

I laughed loudly; I could definitely see Keiko doing that. She had a slap that could rival one of my strongest punches any day.

"If he hasn't changed his mind isn't that going to create problems?"

I heard her sigh over the line, "I love him Kasumi, more than anything, but he can't keep me from living my life either. So either he will join me or he won't."

I frowned, a bit saddened for my friend. I didn't want her to lose the man she loved over something like this. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for us to do this…

"I know what you're thinking Kasumi, so stop it."

And there it was again, that irritating intuitiveness she seemed to possess. No one knew me as well as she did and I guess that's just why I liked her so much, she was the first person I had ever met that was able to read between the lines and figure out who I truly was.

"Yusuke will come around eventually, I promise. For now, you'll get to meet him tomorrow, so try to make a good impression okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…" I mumbled.

I wasn't much for first impressions. I am beyond socially awkward and my aura must show it too, as most people seemed to skirt around me whenever possible. Also, my eyes creeped people out, Kazuma had informed me one day. He admitted that he had even thought I was blind when we first met. They were a flat slate grey and in the right light it almost didn't even look like I had a pupil in the center of them. Let's hope appearances wouldn't scare Keiko's boyfriend away and I might be able to convince him to at least trust me, if not like me.

"I'm serious Kasumi, even if he's rude to you, try and watch your mouth okay?"

"I'm not going to if he's going to be an ass."

"Ugh, you're so stubborn. I think you'll find you're very similar."

"What, me and Yusuke? I doubt that."

I could hear the grin she must be wearing just by the tone of her voice, as she trilled out, "You'll see!"

I gulped down the rest of my coffee; rinsing the mug out and setting it back down on the counter to pack later. An idea popped into my head as I wandered back into my now bare living room, "Hey Keiko, want to go furniture shopping today?"

"Well…I would have to ask my parents if I could have the day off from the shop…"

"Okay, you go ask them and I will go take a shower. If you can't come I will just order what you need."

"Oh Kasumi, you don't have to do that."

"Well, I'm going to." I also planned to pay for all of it, not that she needed to know that. I made considerably more than Keiko, but I wasn't the type of person to rub that into someone else's face. I _am_ the type of person who will surprise their friends with random gifts though.

Keiko was protesting again, so I silenced her with a quick "I'll talk to you later!" and then hung up on her. I was just about the only person Keiko couldn't argue with, mostly because I wouldn't even give her the chance.

I received a text two seconds later telling me I was an ass but she would call me after her parents got up. I smiled, before tossing my cell phone onto the kitchen counter so I could go take a shower.

I wandered into my bathroom, stripping off my white tank as I went and dropping it onto the floor. I wore no bra, as I didn't believe in sleeping in the irritating things. I stopped in front of my mirror to see flaming hair in a tangled rats nest, lightly freckled skin across chest and shoulders, dark circles beneath my eyes and my father's necklace hanging between my modest breasts.

I fingered the trinket for a moment, letting my emotions wash over me as I did so. It wasn't exactly pretty, but held its own type of allure. Hitomi had been given one much the same. Our grandfather had presented them to us for our sixteenth birthdays, with a letter from our father stating that he had been holding onto them for us. They were family heirlooms apparently, though I had never met my dad's side of the family in order to prove it. They had all died many years before I was born.

The necklace itself was a thin silver chain, plain and simple; the pendent hanging off the end of it was far more interesting. It was a golden coin, broken in half down the center and unlike any currency I had ever seen. Hitomi had the other half and the writing written on its surface wasn't complete unless you put the two together. I had yet to figure out what language the script was in, but it flowed down the coin in watery cursive.

I had asked my grandfather if he knew what it said, but he didn't have a clue either. It had given me and Hitomi a headache for weeks when we tried to figure it out on our own. We never did, but it was the last and only thing I had left of my parents, so I didn't really care as long as it was always on me. I never take it off, going as far to sleep and shower with it on. I guess I felt like it gave me another connection to Hitomi – keeping us close even though I didn't have the faintest clue if she was even still alive.

I pushed the memories to the back of my mind, slipping the shorts I was wearing over my hips and took a moment to look my body over. I was short, standing at a measly five feet and three inches (the precinct had actually falsified my records and stated I was 5'4" because the police force had I height requirement) and I wasn't exactly skinny, but most of the weight was lean muscle and not fat. I had hips that tapered off into toned legs and ended with dainty feet. My upper body was just as toned as the bottom, from my flat stomach to the hidden muscles in my arms and shoulders.

While I was not big busted what I had was adequate and anymore would have made my numerous martial arts classes a big irritation, so I was thankful for what Kami had given me. I had a small smattering of light brown freckles that started at my collar bone and traveled down to graze the top of my breasts.

I had several white scars that marred my pale skin, a thin one that sliced through the light brown of my left eyebrow, one on the palm of my right hand from a blade sharpening accident, and one large one between my shoulder blades. The eyebrow had been caused by a slash from a katana wielded by an overzealous underclassman in junior high. As for the one on my back… that had been done on purpose. Remember I spoke of a previous relationship that had ended badly? Well, that particular scar was the result of that.

I banished the memory, not wanting to relive the pain that still festered from time to time. I turned slightly in the mirror, spotting a pop of color on my back not natural to my skin.

The only other remarkable thing about my body was the single tattoo I had inked onto my left shoulder blade. I had it gotten several years ago, shortly after Hitomi had gone missing. I ran my fingers over it gently, mapping out the shape of the infinity symbol. It was solid black, except for the script written in English on the bottom of its second curve. The word 'Strength' stood out in a deep red reminder that I would need to become a much stronger person than I am now in order to find my sister.

Not wanting to think about that right now, I started up my shower (which was just a tiny little cubicle barely big enough to even fit my small frame) and climbed in. I didn't pay attention to the fact the water was still cold and just waited for it to heat up, when it finally did I began my normal routine – wash hair, wash body, condition, and then lean underneath the spray for five minutes to loosen my muscles.

I tried not to spend too long in the shower, mostly because my thoughts were known to get carried away if I did. I tried not to think about certain things as much as possible. Besides, I didn't want to miss Keiko's call.

I jumped out of the shower, grabbing my towel off the bar stretched across one of the walls and wrapped myself up in it. I had to fight off a shiver as I shuffled out to my living room, in the process I snatched up a suitcase I had resting against the wall, and threw it down on my futon. I followed it a second later, plopping down next to it and quickly unzipping it.

I had packed a few outfits inside it so they would be easily accessible until I could get my stuff unpacked at the new place. I pulled out a pair of dark wash jeans (made for a woman this time), a dark fitted long sleeved shirt, a pair of socks, and the necessary undergarments.

I rushed to get them all on, because the landlord of my apartment complex had refused to turn the heat on so early in the season and I was freezing. Of course, in my hurry I had ended up putting my shirt on backwards. I rolled my eyes at myself and my own stupidity, before roughly pulling it off and putting it back on the correct way.

By the time I had dressed, put my holster and gun over my shoulders, and popped two slices of bread into my toaster Keiko had called back. Her parents had agreed to give her the day off. Furniture shopping for the day it was.

**. . .**

After one very long and tiring afternoon Keiko and I had managed to buy everything we might possibly need for our new place. I had never been more thankful for the savings my Grandparents had given me. It wasn't often I took money out of the account but it had _really_ helped today. Especially because I had needed a lot more furniture than Keiko had.

In the end I had purchased myself a new western style bed with blue bedding to match my room, a desk, two bedside tables, and a small light blue arm chair to stick in one of the corners of the bedroom. Keiko had a bed and desk she would be bringing with her, but had needed the bedside tables. Together we purchased a kotatsu for the living room, a wooden dining table with six chairs, a couch and two arm chairs to place in the living room (these were a nice deep burgundy and would match the crème colored walls nicely).

From there came other household essentials such as towels, blankets and sheets, kitchen supplies like extra silverware, plates, bowls, pots and pans, as well as cooking utensils. I had some of those things but not enough for the both of us and definitely not enough if we had guests.

At some point Keiko had ended up purchasing a house plant as well as several other décor related items to place around the apartment. I bought a new table to place by our entry way, so I could put my little ceramic poppy bowl where I usually do. We ended up spending an exorbitant amount of money, but the day had been successful and now we had everything a couple of budding college students could ever possibly need for a new place.

We instructed the furniture store on where to deliver the items that were too large for us to take ourselves and they agreed to drop all of it off tomorrow morning around ten. That would give us several hours to get our other stuff situated before they arrived. I shook the proprietor's hand gratefully as we finally left.

To finish the evening Keiko and I stopped at our favorite café for coffee before splitting ways. I stood outside the shop and waved until she was out my line of sight, then I turned, stuffing my hands into my pockets, and walked back to my lonely little hovel. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

It was already dark out, the night dreary and cold. The stars weren't very visible, but I couldn't tell if it was because the sky was overcast or if it was just the city itself. I walked with my face turned to the black above, not paying attention to where I was going.

Of course, being the smart person that I happened to be, I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to walk around without taking stock of your surroundings. I was proved correct a moment later when I rammed face first into something (correction, someone) causing me to lose my balance. My many years of martial arts training prevented me from falling over backwards, as I corrected my descent quickly by hopping nimbly on the balls of my feet. I never even had to remove my hands from my pockets.

A pale hand reached out to grab me by the shoulder, in an attempt to prevent my fall, but the person realized a moment later that it wasn't necessary. It fell away and I took the chance to apologize – it had been my fault after all.

"Ano…I'm really sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"

I finally looked up to see who I had accosted and it took a moment of staring at the softly smiling face for me to realize it was a man and not a woman standing in front of me. Realizing I was being extremely rude, I blushed and quickly looked away. The man laughed softly, his voice smooth and pleasant to the ear.

"Please, there is no need to apologize. I was just as distracted with my thoughts as you seemed to be. There was no harm done." He used those same pale hands (such long and dainty fingers!) to adjust his clothing I had mussed up by running head first into his chest.

While he wasn't looking my eyes shot back to assess the man once again. He was pretty, almost too pretty for him to be a man. He had long, slightly wavy bright red hair held back in a low ponytail. His fringe hung attractively over his forehead and I allowed my eyes to travel over what I could see of his face. His skin was pale and practically flawless, an angular face with eyes the color of emeralds embedded into the perfect symmetry.

He was fairly tall, compared to me anyway, and thin. I could tell that there was strength hidden beneath the surface, the fact he hadn't so much as stumbled when I bumped into him being another clue. That little tidbit alone made him ten times more attractive in my eyes.

His attire certainly didn't help dull his attractiveness either. He was handsomely, though simply, dressed in a pair of khaki slacks and white dress shirt. Pinned to the pants and pulled over his shoulders were a pair of black suspenders and he held a classy dinner jacket over one of his arms.

The redhead cleared his throat rather loudly, causing me to jump. What he said a second later made my already heated face bloom further, traveling down my chest in hot ruddy patches.

"If you are finished admiring me, I am afraid I must be on my way."

It took me a moment to spew out my next sentence, "O-oh, I'm so sorry!"

He only smiled kindly, shaking his head as he gracefully walked by me. I couldn't help but watch the man walk away – too stunned to even get my brain to start working properly again, let alone make my feet move.

When my brain finally kick started itself back to life it was only so I could curse myself profusely. Seriously, what the _hell_ was _that_? I had just made a complete fool of myself and in front of such a hot guy too! If Keiko had been there to see that she would have slapped me upside the head!

Angry now, I started stomping my way down the sidewalk. I could only hope I would meet the guy again someday and be able to redeem myself. Better yet, I would like to drag him to bed for a night. The hair alone was a major turn on.

I sighed; Keiko would highly disapprove of that as well. Dragging random men to bed with me had started some years ago, after my one and only serious relationship. I never wanted to be with someone like that again. Sex was one thing – I kept it impersonal and it usually only lasted the one night. The few guys that had tried to crawl back beneath my sheets (metaphorically speaking) were always promptly shut out.

I believed in love, had always sought after it, but it was the least of my worries now. I didn't have time for love or anything that came with it. Not to mention, I was really only interested in men who were stronger than me. If you can't take me down in a fight, then forget it.

Unfortunately for most of them, it was simply impossible. While I didn't know about my dad's parents, my Grandfather on my mother's side (the one who took care of Hitomi and I) had been a master at his own dojo. He had retired some years before he died, but wanted to keep the dojo in the family. Along with their life savings, I had inherited my Grandfather's dojo as well. He had taught me his strange mix of Karate and Kempo from the time I was able to walk, hoping I would become his heir, especially because he had not been gifted with any sons.

Kazuma and Keiko were the only people other than my sister who knew this little tidbit of information. Being the master of a dojo didn't really go over well with the men who taught most of my martial arts classes or the head of the clubs I had attended throughout school, so I kept it to myself. I had been handed down a ku-dan, a 9th rank black belt, essentially making me a master of my Grandfather's art.

I hated it. I honestly often refused to acknowledge it at all. I had not earned that honor; it had been given to me when he died because he wanted me to re-open the dojo. With his personal training and my Judo classes as well as Kendo he had figured I would be the perfect match for the job.

How wrong he had been. I had absolutely no interest in teaching anyone my personal style of martial arts and I intended for it to stay that way. I also had no need for ranking systems; I had never cared for them. All I cared about was learning as many ways to fight as I possibly could.

'_Sorry Ojichan, I know I'm a disappointment.'_

The only reason I kept track of my ranks at all were because of the questions I always enviably got after someone had seen me fight. I was a 8th Dan black belt in Karate (I suppose it would be close in Kempo as well, thanks to my Grandfather and I don't acknowledge the 9th rank that was handed to me), I started Judo later, when I was 8, but I achieved a go-dan (fifth rank black belt) my senior year of high school. As for Kendo, I started that a little earlier than Judo at 7 years old and it was the only club I planned on joining at the college. Like Judo, I had also achieved a go-dan in Kendo my senior year.

I was saddened by the fact I no longer would have time for Judo now that I had joined the police force, but my classes were more important. So I had limited myself to only joining one club and Kendo was what I still wanted to improve in.

I had reached the entry way to my apartment building by then, so I concentrated on unlocking the door and walking up the single flight of stairs to my rinky-dink apartment. Thank Kami I was getting the hell out of this crap pile tomorrow.

I stepped over a drunk guy who was lying spread eagled in the hall (might have been one of my neighbors, might not have been, who knows) in order to reach my door, pulling out my key and shoving it forcefully into the lock. I had to jiggle it harshly and then twist it swiftly to the side to get the lock to unlatch.

I kicked the door open, throwing my leather messenger bag down next to it and dumping my cell phone, keys, glasses and pocket change into my little bowl. When the change scattered and rolled onto the floor that is when I finally remembered that I had already packed my poppy bowl. In fact, everything had been packed by that point.

The little apartment looked so lonely and cold being that empty. Boxes had been stacked up against the walls and the only bit of me that remained was the futon folded up on the floor.

I busied myself with picking up the fallen yen, trying to avoid thinking about how alone I felt. This is what usually started my horrible habit of one night stands. I would succumb to a bout of loneliness and then go out to a bar or club to find someone willing.

Heck, I could easily recall the last time it had happened even. It had left me sexually and emotionally frustrated after I had been forced to kick the guy out of my bed, completely naked and incensed.

I was a rough lover, I didn't like the tenderness of what people called 'love making.' My body was hardened and strong, even if it might not look that way from the outside, having a guy treat me like I was glass was one of the biggest turn offs I could think of.

Thus why I had been forced to kick the last idiot out of my apartment, he had even asked for me to be _gentle _with him. What kind of man wants a woman to be gentle with him, for Kami's sake? Sex should be passionate and hungry and sweaty. Not sweet nothings being whispered in my ear while we eat chocolate covered strawberries while lying beneath the sheets. Gross.

I guess I'm kind of making myself sound a little crazy. It's not like I would beat the shit out of a guy in bed or do weird things, but if I dig my nails into your back or bite you I don't expect you to whine like a little girl.

I finished picking up my fallen change, placing it in neat little stacks on the table by the door and then moved on so I could pull the futon out. I spent much longer than I needed to smoothing out the bedding, especially because I was just going to lay in it soon. I was too lost in my thoughts by then to really care.

I wished I had gone after that redhead earlier. What would he have said if I propositioned him right there in the street?

'_Who are you kidding Kasumi, he would have thought you were a prostitute you idiot.'_

I shook my head at myself, trying to banish this horrible train of thought before I took it too far. I was cold and tired; all I needed was a good night's rest. Tomorrow would be more hard work and I planned on getting an early start.

With that in mind, I stripped off my clothes and climbed under the blankets, curling up into a ball to try and keep my warmth from escaping. I forced my eyes to remain closed and then allowed myself to drift off into a fitful sleep.

**. . .**

I think I must have been dreaming, because I was standing in the middle of Ojichan's dojo, which I _know_ I had closed up after he died. Light was softly filtering through its rice paper doors and the warmth of summer could be felt on my skin. How come I was here?

I twirled around in a slow circle, feeling my bare feet rub against the well-worn wood and memories of my childhood rushed over me as I took the place in. It was just how I remembered it, the smell of clean wood and years of hard work – sweat, blood and tears from many a student, including myself. The shrine my Grandfather had prayed at every morning before practice in the same place as always, the incense burners, the hand painted scrolls, the array of weapons hanging on display across the walls – it was all exactly the same… except for one tiny detail.

I stopped my turning abruptly, my feet skidding across the floor and sticking to its surface. Standing in a corner of the room was a man, just watching me, his hands neatly folded into the sleeves of his black kimono. Besides the cowl hiding his face from view, the guy looked like he had stepped straight out of an old fashioned Samurai movie.

He had a katana strapped into the Obi of his bright red hakama and a jug of what must be some kind of alcohol hanging from his hip. As I spotted it, he reached down and removed it, bringing the vessel to his lips and taking a long drink. When he had finished, he held the jug out to me – an offering.

Dream or not, I sure as hell wasn't going to drink something being offered to me from some unknown entity. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my Grandfather's dojo?"

A deep, dark, almost scary chuckle left the man's mouth. I still couldn't see his face, the cowl covered it in shadow and I was starting to become frustrated. If he was trying to scare me it wasn't going to work, baka.

I went to move closer to him, perhaps to start an altercation but he spoke before I could even take a single step, "Don't you mean _your _dojo?"

His voice was so deep it sounded like thunder leaving his throat and I remained completely still. He had knowledge that many shouldn't possess, leaving me to believe that all of this was in fact in my head. I narrowed my eyes, determined not to be intimidated by some weirdo I had created.

"No, what I said is what I meant. This is my Grandfather's dojo. Now, who the hell are you?"

He set his jug down at his feet, stepping away from it and coming towards me. I took a stance, preparing myself for the possibility of having to fight my way out of here. I watched his every move, trying to predict what he was about to do, when he suddenly disappeared as if he'd never even been there in the first place.

I whipped around quickly, trying to figure out where he had gone but the cold steel of a blade being poked into my back halted any movement I wished to make. I straightened my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my brain screaming at me that there was something definitely wrong with this situation.

'_Who the fuck is this guy!?'_

The blade was moved, the man's arm wrapped around my middle so he could hold it in front of my face threateningly_. "Kasumi-chan…"_ He whispered in my ear, so close I could feel his breath on my skin.

I shuddered violently, suddenly feeling ill; a cold sweat broke out over my forehead. Why did I feel this way? No one had ever made me feel such a sense of dread before. Somehow, I knew my life was in imminent danger. This man was going to kill me. I needed to do _something, anything_ other than standing here shaking like a frightened child.

Being wary of the blade I shot my elbow out behind me, hitting him squarely in the stomach. I heard him let loose a whoosh of breath as I knocked the wind out of him. Triumphant, I hopped away from him, avoiding the blade completely.

But when I turned around to confront him again he was already gone. A shadow fell over me, engulfing me, choking me. I scrabbled at my neck, trying to draw in air but the sudden overwhelming fear was too much. I fell to my knees, gasping and looking around wildly for the source of my current discomfort.

He materialized out of thin air, like black smoke, wispy and ephemeral. It solidified into his form, his hand around my neck as cold as the steel of his blade. I pulled at his fingers, trying to remove them before I suffocated but it was to no avail. They remained strong and steady, pressed into the soft flesh of my throat.

All I could do was watch as he leaned in close; a flash of white teeth surrounded by thin pale lips and eyes the color of snow glowing from within his hood. He brushed against my chin and I could feel the smooth skin of his lips and the hint of five o'clock shadow as he practically nuzzled me. Those lips against my ear made me jump, wishing I could crawl out of my own skin.

"Kasumi-chan… _I'm coming for you_. Just like I came for your parents, your Grandparents, and most importantly of all…

"…Your little sister – _Hitomi._"

**. . .**

I awoke with a scream, covered in a cold sweat and shivering. I was forced to rush to my bathroom where I became violently ill; throwing up everything I had eaten the night before.

'_What the _fuck _was that!?"_

I had never had a dream so vivid in my life and I certainly had never had one that made me physically ill afterwards. It had felt so damn _real_ that if I hadn't awoken in my apartment I wouldn't have been all that surprised. Shit, I hoped to never have a dream like that ever again.

I gathered myself together, stumbling up from my bathroom floor so I could go over to the sink and brush my teeth. I wanted so badly to call Keiko or even Kazuma, but it was still dark outside and much too early to call either one of them. I wanted to cry at that moment, I really, truly did.

Instead of crying, I did what I usually did when I felt that way – I punched something. The mirror in my bathroom shattered around me, tinkling through the air in sharp little chunks, some of them embedding themselves into my knuckles. The pain made the rest of my worries disappear and I sneered at the blood dripping between my fingers and to the floor.

'_I need to become stronger. No matter what, I need to be stronger. I can't ever let something like that make me feel this way again. How would I ever be able to face Hitomi when I am still so weak?'_

Anger fueled me, as it always had. It had been Grandfather's reason for training me in the first place and it was the reason I kept going every day. Without that anger, that hurt, I would have given up on finding Hitomi ages ago.

I don't allow myself to cry, or feel sorry for myself, or panic. That isn't how I work. Either I stood up and took it like a man, or I would die trying. I didn't have the time or energy to be fearful of things. A nightmare is a pathetic reason for me to be acting like this.

I left the bathroom, not even bothering with the broken glass. The landlord could take my security deposit for all I gave a shit. I needed to do something to expel this sudden need for destruction, so I dressed casually and then left my apartment.

I planned to go to the park a couple of blocks away and go through my katas and perhaps beat the shit out of an available tree.

I sometimes wondered if other people have a reaction to fear like I do. I certainly had never heard of anyone else. It had saved my ass on more than one occasion though – becoming pissed off when something scares me. No one had the right to do that to me and I mean _no one._

In my anger I had forgotten my jacket and it was immediately apparent as I stepped outside. To keep warm I started to run, reaching the park only took me a few minutes. Once there I picked a spot on the grass and stretched, loosening my muscles up and preparing for the work-out my body needed.

After I had loosened up, I took a deep breath, and started the routine my Grandfather had first taught me all those years ago. I went through a simple set of katas first, getting my body used to the motions. Soon enough though I amped up my work out, putting myself into a mindset of kill or be killed. I pretended I was in a real fight, shadow battling my opponent. I used my anger and released it through each strike, each one making me calmer, more under control.

I didn't stop until I could see the sun rising over the horizon. Sweat was dripping down my skin by then, my messy hair sticking to my damp forehead and the disgusting feeling of the back of my shirt being soaked through causing me to itch.

Once the first rays of the sun touched my skin, I decided it was time to stop. I had been out there for hours by then and I really needed a shower before I met up with Kazuma and Keiko. From the position of the sun I guessed I had about an hour at that point to get ready. Kazuma had agreed to stop at Keiko's first, pick her up and then come get me. We were moving Keiko's things over first and then we would come back for mine.

I jogged back to my apartment, feeling invigorated and much calmer than when I had left it. I rushed up the stairs, barreled through my door, and kicked off my sneakers by way of my toes. I stripped my clothes off and left them in a heap outside the bathroom door. I bypassed the pieces of glass littering the floor, pretending it wasn't even there for sanity's sake.

I showered quickly, did my morning routine, and then braided my damp hair into a long plait down my back. I dressed in comfortable, loose black pants and pulled a dark blue V-neck t-shirt over my head. I forewent putting on my shoulder holster and instead tucked my gun into the back of my pants. I didn't plan on carrying it with me today, but I couldn't leave it here either.

By the time I had finished getting ready I could hear a horn blaring loudly from outside. I peeked out the window in my living room to see Kazuma's old black pick-up waiting for me by the curb. The truck's bed was filled to bursting with Keiko's things, a multitude of boxes having been thrown over her mattress and box spring. I was suddenly very excited; I couldn't wait to get into our new place.

I watched as Kazuma hopped out of the driver's side of the vehicle, obviously having become impatient and I knew he planned on marching up here to get me, so I opened the window and stuck my head out.

"Kazuma-kun, I'll be down in a minute! Don't bother with coming up!"

He lifted his head to grin and wave at me, "Okay Kasumi, but hurry up! We've got a long day ahead of us!"

I just waved at him dismissively before slamming my window closed and going to put my shoes on. I took one last look at my apartment, making sure I had packed everything. We would be back later, but it would be much easier just to grab the shit and leave instead of scrambling around to make sure I had everything.

Satisfied with what I saw, I left, slamming the door behind me and then running down the hall to the stairs. I took them two at a time and then burst through the door at the bottom of them. Kazuma was there waiting for me, leaning against the bed of his truck with a cocky grin on his face.

Sometimes I forgot how handsome my friend truly was, until he looked at me like that. His red hair was a couple of shades lighter than mine and he always perpetually styled it into a punkish pompadour, though he somehow pulled it off really well. Dark brown, expressive eyes sparkled with mischief from beneath said pompadour, a row of sparkly whites shining through the grin still plastered on his face.

Kazuma was tall, like _really_ tall. I would bet he was over six foot and considering one my responsibilities as a police officer is being be able to identify people I could promise my guess was fairly close. I looked absolutely ridiculous when I was standing next to him, but I never really minded. Many people confused me for his little sister, which he seemed to adore anyway. Kazuma had a real sister, but he had made it quite clear that he didn't much like the older woman's company. I had met her a few times when I went to visit the Kuwabaras' home and while Shizuru was a really nice person to just about everyone else, she was hilariously terrible to her younger brother.

He was dressed casually today, in light blue jeans and a dark grey sweater with a pair of white sneakers to complete the outfit. As my eyes traveled back up his muscular, broad form I took notice of the fact he happened to have two cups of coffee in his hands (with the logo of our favorite place on their sides) and my day considerably brightened.

"Do one of those happen to be for me?" I asked hopefully, shooting him a smile.

"Nah, I thought I would drink them both myself for the extra energy." He joked.

I punched him in the shoulder, making him pout, but he handed me my coffee anyway. "Thank you Kazuma-kun."

He chuckled, "Don't mention it. Really, I'm doing myself a favor anyway. You're mean when you haven't had any caffeine."

"Excuse me?" I squawked indignantly, "I am the nicest person you will ever meet!"

He only laughed raucously at me, obviously not believing a word. He straightened so he could walk back to the driver's side, ruffling my hair as he walked by and making me bat his hands away. I finally took notice of Keiko who was sitting in Kazuma's truck, the window was rolled up, but I could see that the reason she hadn't greeted me already was because she had her cell phone to her ear. Her mouth seemed to be moving quite fast, meaning she was either arguing or yelling at someone.

I could see Kazuma clearly through the truck's side windows, looking past Keiko to see him standing outside the driver's side door. He rolled his eyes at me, miming that he would like to choke himself. I assumed this had been going on since he picked her up, causing his irritation.

I knocked on the window, trying to let Keiko know I needed to get into the vehicle and she held up a finger asking me to wait. A moment later I could hear her yell through the glass, "That's enough!" and then hang up on whomever it was she had been talking to.

She opened the door a moment later, hopping down from the cab so I could climb over the seat and sit in the middle. Being the shortest person almost always did not work in my favor. Kazuma's truck had a stick shift, which meant I would have to sit with my legs as far apart as possible. At first doing this had been awkward, but now it was just something I dealt with. I didn't have much reason to be embarrassed in front of these two anymore.

Keiko climbed back in after me, crossed her arms over her chest, and then glared out the windshield. As Kazuma got in and started the truck up an awkward silence fell over us. Did I even dare ask?

Carefully I began, "So…Keiko-chan, would you like to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"She was fighting with Urameshi."

I turned to Kazuma, who was trying not to look at Keiko by being extra diligent in checking his mirrors to make sure no cars were coming. He pulled out onto the street and began to drive, it should only take about fifteen minutes to get to the building but I really didn't want to sit in this atmosphere for even that length of time.

"Keiko, you might as well tell her about it." He was still studiously watching the road, but I knew he was on the same page as I was.

Keiko looked about ready to explode, her cheeks were red with anger and her eyes had narrowed dangerously. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to get her to talk about it.

But before I could change my mind she let it all spill out in one go. "Yusuke is such an idiot! I called him to make sure he was still coming and he said he was, but he was waiting for K – uh…Shuichi to come pick him up.

"Which is no big deal, but then he started complaining about having to help at all," She continued. "Then he started arguing with me about moving in the first place, told me that I was abandoning my parents, and then he told me I was abandoning_ him_ so I could find some new guy while I'm in college."

She buried her hands into her hair, tugged at the locks and looked ready to scream. I put an arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her and she leaned in gratefully but didn't look any less stressed out.

As was per usual for me, a thought popped into my head and I blurted it out without really thinking about Keiko's current crisis. "Hey, who's this Shuichi anyway?"

Kazuma laughed next to me, "Is that all you got from that?"

"Well…no, but I was just curious, is all."

I had succeeded in making Keiko laugh a little bit at least, so even if my sporadic train of thought wasn't exactly considerate she knew me well enough not to feel bad about it.

"You'll meet him later when he shows up with Yusuke, but his name is Minamino Shuichi and he's a good friend of Kazuma's and Yusuke's."

I could see Kazuma's reflection frowning in the windshield as she explained this to me, so I turned to him and raised in eyebrow in question. He caught it out of the corner of his eye, but just removed his hand from the stick shift to scratch the back of his head nervously.

"It's nothing Kasumi…just thought of something is all."

"Would you like to share with the class?" I said and poked him in the side, making him squirm away from me.

"Uh, well…" He trailed off, but a moment later he asked, "Keiko, you don't think Shuichi is gunna bring you know who, do you?"

I had no idea who "you-know-who" was but Kazuma's obvious nervousness was making me start to worry. I sat in the middle, looking between the two of them. Both shared expressions of distaste.

"I hope not, but last I heard he was staying with him."

"Damn, he might come out of boredom then." He sighed, "Oh well an extra set of hands wouldn't hurt."

"We shouldn't talk about him like that, he isn't _so _bad anymore."

"Yeah, well you try being on the receiving end of his attitude once in a while." He pulled a face as he said this.

Keiko just laughed at his obvious discomfort, before turning to me. I was starting to get fed up with not being included and had been tugging at little pieces of Keiko's hair to get her attention. She batted my hand away and smoothed a hand over her hair to make sure I hadn't messed it up.

"So, who are you talking about now? I'm starting to feel like you guys are just doing this to confuse me."

"It's no one," Kazuma said.

"Just another friend of Yusuke's… he's a little, uh…" Keiko trailed off, words failing her.

Kazuma picked up where she left off, "He's a little bit of an asshole."

"I was trying to think of something nicer than that!"

"What's the point, there's nothing nice about him."

I sighed, "Okay children, that's enough fighting for one day. Seriously though, who is this guy?"

"You'll see if he comes along. His name is Hiei and he'll be easy to spot. I can guaranty he'll be wearing something black."

"Just Hiei?"

"Yeah, that's what he prefers to be called; he doesn't like to give out his surname."

"Uh…okay. Sounds like a weird guy."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Kasumi!"

I fell silent, because this conversation had taken a weird turn. I could definitely tell they weren't exactly telling me the whole truth, their nervous twitches easily giving them away to my trained eye. I just couldn't tell what the issue was though – what was so wrong with this guy that they didn't want to talk about him?

"Keiko, why did Urameshi ask Shuichi to come anyway?"

"Oh, he offered. He came over for a visit last night and when I told Yusuke we would have to come back and pick him up after dropping Kasumi off, Shuichi said he would drive him instead and save you the second trip."

"That was nice of him," Kazuma said honestly.

"He said he would help us carry things up to the apartment too. I figured the extra hands would get it done twice as fast. Maybe we could even start unpacking today."

"So this Shuichi is a good guy then?" I asked.

"Oh yes," she trilled. "He's very kind."

I sat back further in the seat, shifting my legs out of Kazuma's way as he went to shift again. We should be there soon. Especially because Kazuma was driving over the speed limit – the cop in me forced me to give him a dirty look until he slowed down again.

"Sometimes, you're a real buzz kill Kasumi."

"Sorry dude, but I do abide by the law and so should you."

"Oh do you now? What about that party you had after you graduated from the academy? If I remember correctly you got pretty stinkin' drunk."

"So, what's your point?"

"You are several months underage and back then you were even younger. What you did was illegal."

"I technically wasn't a police officer by then, the Tokyo PD didn't hire me until a couple of months later, remember?"

"Excuses, excuses – it doesn't matter if you were or not, you still did something illegal."

"Who's being the buzz kill now?" I stuck my tongue out at him and he shot a hand out, trying to grab it with his forefinger and thumb. He did this every time I stuck my tongue out, saying that if I kept doing it he'd tear it off.

I swiftly pulled my tongue back into the safety of my mouth and he only ended up poking me in the face. I laughed at him, a wide grin spreading across my face in happiness. Hanging out with Kazuma had always been fun for me.

"Are you two done acting like five year olds?"

Kazuma and my laughter only increased at Keiko's words, because what did it matter? Sure, we acted like kids sometimes, but it was nice once in a while. Kazuma was like a brother to me and that was something I had never gotten to experience before – I liked it a lot.

"Yes Keiko, we're done."

"Thank God, you're ridiculous to watch."

"Oh gee, thanks for that!"

She was just picking on me and I knew it, but I made myself seem sad so she would feel guilty. It didn't work; instead she just rolled her eyes and told me to stop being an idiot.

I grew serious once more, "Oi Keiko, you're okay though right?"

"You mean about Yusuke? Yes, he's just being a baby."

"Are you sure? I mean, you two seem to be fighting a lot lately."

Kazuma snorted, "Are you kidding? This is pretty normal actually."

"Huh, really Keiko?"

"Yes, Yusuke and I fight almost daily. He's just so stupid sometimes!" She said exasperatedly, throwing her arms up.

"…Oh, I guess I just didn't know that."

Keiko's face turned solemn, "I'm sorry Kasumi, I know I haven't told you much about him and now here I am just throwing you into the middle of it."

I had always been confused about that. Keiko seemed to keep me separate from that part of her life. I had met her parents, spent time at the restaurant and with her in school, but she had always hidden Yusuke from me. I hadn't even known about him until after he came back, then she told me, 2 years after I had met her.

A lot of the things I knew about him I had heard from Kazuma and he hadn't told me much either. I suspected they had both agreed to keep me in the dark about certain things. I just didn't understand why. What was the point? Who was Yusuke and why did it matter if I knew him or not?

The only reason I was at all interested in finally getting to see him today is because they had kept it from me and I demanded to know the reason why. What was so special about him? If I didn't want Keiko to tell me herself I would have looked him up from the police's database ages ago, but I had always hoped she would. Now was that time and it made me feel only slightly better, because she finally trusted me enough to meet him.

It sort of hurt my heart just a little to know that it had taken my two best friends over 3 years to introduce me to their other friends. It made it even worse that they hadn't even talked about them. Here I was, learning of two more today I had never even heard of. The only thing I was truly sure of was that I am Keiko's best female friend, tried and true, so I wanted desperately to trust her judgment.

"You okay, Kasumi?" Kazuma knocked me out my reverie.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said softly.

"Alright…" He didn't sound convinced but whatever, he'd either figure it out or get over it.

I perked up in my seat as I saw the sign directing us onto the street the apartment rested on. A couple of minutes later Kazuma pulled up to the address I had given him the day before, parked the truck on the curb right out front of the building and killed the engine. He hopped out first and then, like the gentleman he prided himself on being, walked around to open the door for Keiko and me.

She hopped out and I crawled out of the cab, jumping down onto the pavement. As Keiko went to unlock the front door I went to the side of the building and carefully removed a slightly heavy stone from the garden the landlady had. I had noticed it on our first visit and now I planned to borrow the rock to prop the door to the building open.

We would be moving in and out for the next several hours, it would be much easier to keep it open than to have to unlock it every time we needed to get into the building. I walked back around to the front and Keiko had waited for me, she held the door as wide as it would go and I placed the rock in front of it.

I nodded approvingly when the door didn't so much as budge and then went to help Kazuma unload the boxes from the bed of his truck. Keiko jogged up the stairs so she could go unlock our front door.

Kazuma and I worked in amicable silence, removing box after box to be placed on the sidewalk so they could be easily grabbed. We wanted to at least get Keiko's bed inside before we bothered with anything else.

Because I was so short, I had been forced to climb up the tailgate and directly into the bed of the truck. Eventually I got sick of having to climb in and out, so I just started handing the boxes over to Kazuma. Some of them were surprisingly heavy and I recalled that Keiko practically owned a small library – half of the boxes were probably just books alone.

Once I had cleared the boxes out we were left with just her furniture (Kazuma had somehow managed to get all of it one trip, packing the truck with surprising strategy) and I started off by handing him the wooden pieces for her bed frame. He took them and carefully rested them against the side of the building.

Keiko had reappeared at some point and had begun the process of carrying her boxes up, one at a time. I wished our apartment wasn't on the third floor, because this was going to be a real pain without an elevator.

"Hey Kasumi, you think you can get the mattress down from there?"

Kazuma was standing beside the truck, waiting expectantly so I gave the mattress a good tug so it was standing on its side, and then I pushed it over the bed of the truck. Kazuma was there to grab it before it hit the ground and he pulled it out the rest of the way. I watched in fascination as he carried it all by himself over to where he had left the bed frame.

Sometimes I forgot how strong Kazuma really was, though I had fought with him before. When he learned I was fairly decent at Kendo he had begged me to train him. I had agreed, but under the stipulation that he did it the right way and joined the Kendo club. At the time, I had been the club's leader, not just because I happened to have the highest rank out of all my classmates, but also because for some god forsaken reason they had all wanted me to teach them.

I had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Kazuma was certainly no beginner with Kendo, but he lacked skills in the basics. After a couple years of participating in the club with me he had become significantly better. It was unfortunate that he had chosen not to join now that we were in college.

His reason for not wanting to do Kendo while attending the university was that I wasn't going to be the club's head, so why bother. The only reason he had joined up in the first place was so that I could train with him.

I had only shaken my head at him, disappointed that he thought that way, but unable to change his mind. In the end, I had promised to train with him whenever he wanted. After all, you don't get to hold the ranks like I do unless you put in a lot of effort. If I wasn't working or digging up information pertaining to my sister's case, I was training. It took up a good portion of my time and I was completely fine with that.

He was standing beside the truck again waiting for me, "Alright, now the bookcases."

We made swift work of removing the rest of Keiko's furniture from the truck – her three bookcases, the desk and its accompanying chair, and an old fashioned wooden vanity table with attached mirror. All of this was placed on the curb so Kazuma could start carrying it up. He adamantly refused my assistance, waving me off and informing me that it was a "man's" job to carry the heavy stuff.

Of course I ignored him, because if there was one thing I truly hated it was when people treated me like I was weak. Kazuma knew that too, but it hadn't stopped him from trying to be chivalrous over the years anyway.

As Kazuma lugged the first heavy pieces of furniture up the three flights of stairs, I couldn't help but smile softly behind his back. Even though I had only known these two people a few years, I could no longer see my life without them. Without Hitomi, I had been completely alone, until they had entered my messed up little world.

I prayed to Kami every day asking that I never lose them. No matter what, I would fight to remain at their side: until the day I died.

**. . .**

**This information is important, even though it is long, please read or at least skim it. Thank you!**

**A/N: **This chapter was going to be longer, but I thought it would be good to end it here for now before it turned into some giant monster. I have a terrible habit of just writing and writing and writing, until I finally notice how long it's gotten.

Okay, so few important things. First, a bit about Kasumi and her Grandfather, her Grandfather is a grand master of a dojo. He holds a 9th Dan (Rank) black belt in both Karate and Kempo, having died before he could ever achieve the 10th (Which is nearly impossible anyway and there are very few people in the world who hold that rank. Hell, in Kendo there isn't any single person even alive today that has achieved a 10th rank). A 10th Dan in Karate, Kempo, and Judo is much the same, with varying degrees of time to achieve the ranks. Kendo has a similar ranking system, but the time between each rank is a bit longer because he have to wait a certain amount of years before you are eligible to test for a new rank. Kasumi is a high enough rank to be teaching Kendo, but chooses not to for many reasons. Kasumi's Grandfather does not use Kendo, but he has personally trained Kasumi in both Karate and Kempo, making her the Master of the dojo by the time she was 18. Also, please keep in mind that the time it takes for a person to achieve a rank (besides Kendo) varies from person to person, depending on skill and the amount of time a person dedicates to the discipline of their choice. Kasumi has been learning martial arts since she was old enough to walk, her Grandfather having insisted on it. I used the average time it would take for a normal person, who spent at least a few days a week (besides when in class) training, to calculate how long it would have taken Kasumi to reach each of her ranks.

Let's get one thing clear; she isn't super strong, at least not in the supernatural sense. Is she strong for a human and a girl? Yes. But only because of her own determination and discipline, she trains constantly. So I hope it is at least somewhat believable. I want her to achieve a 10th Dan by the end of the story (a 10th Dan rank is sometimes handed down through families, as well as the 9th, thus why Kasumi was given it after her Grandfather's death, being that she's his heir) and normally, if the rank isn't given to them, a 10th Dan is the rank you will be holding when you die, of old age, because it takes so long to achieve. The only reason I want her to achieve that rank is because she knows so many different styles of martial arts, making her the perfect candidate to create her own personal style and then teach it to the world at large.

Hope this isn't too confusing, anyway, thanks for reading and please read and review!

P.S. Also, I read somewhere that Keiko went to an all-girls high school or something like that, but for the sake of this story (if that little factoid is even true anyway) she attended a co-ed school with Kuwabara. I figured it would make sense, because Yusuke wouldn't have wanted her to be unprotected anyway.

**Next Chapter: **Hiei finally appears and Kasumi gets to meet the rest of the gang. Move in continues, along with some little tidbits of Kasumi's current job…

Till next time!


	3. The Gang's All Here

**A/N: **Okay, so chapter two wasn't too exciting either, but bear with me while I try to get some of Kasumi's back story out of the way. Not to mention I want to build on her, Keiko's, and Kazuma's relationship. Please excuse any mistakes I make regarding Japanese lifestyles and households, I'm American but I'm not completely ignorant about Japanese customs. I wish I knew more, but research only teaches me so much. So, as I branch out into Kasumi's classes and her time spent at the precinct, it might have more of a western feel to it, I'm sorry.

Expect to start seeing the boys more and more, but Hiei and Kurama will be around less than Kuwabara and Yusuke, at first anyway. There is a plot here (A little snippet was revealed during Kasumi's dream) and obviously the Tantei are all going to get sucked into it, whether they like it or not. Anyway, here is the next installment, please tell me what you think and happy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I unfortunately do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but Yoshihiro Togashi and Funamation do, those lucky bastards. I just have fun picking on the characters. I _do _own Kasumi and my other original characters, so please no stealing. I'm making no money by writing this.

**Warnings: **For all chapters there is foul language, adult themes, violence, and etc. At some point, the dreaded lemon may appear, but not for a long time. Enjoy!

**. . .**

I was upstairs with Keiko helping her unpack when the three men I had never met finally showed up. The only reason I noticed that they had arrived at all is because I could hear Kazuma's booming voice through one of the windows I had opened to air the place out. He was arguing back and forth with another male, but I didn't recognize the voice so when Keiko was busy in her room I went and stuck my head out of the window to be nosey.

On the sidewalk stood three men and one teenager, out of those four people one of them was Kazuma. I recognized Yusuke almost immediately just from the descriptions I had been given. He had Kazuma in a headlock and was giving the poor man a noogie, messing his pompadour up and making Kazuma's naturally curly hair fall around his head oddly.

Yusuke was shorter than Kazuma, with black hair slicked back on his head, and a shit eating grin plastered to his face as he tortured his friend. Even from this distance I could tell he was well built, muscular but lithe and devilishly attractive. He wore blue jeans, white trainers, a green t-shirt and a brown leather jacket.

I watched a little longer until I saw him let Kazuma go and then start a fist fight with him. Apparently Kazuma-kun hadn't been kidding when he told me they fought all the time.

I tried to get a look at the other two, but unfortunately both of them were turned away from my view and a bit behind the car they had arrived in. A white sedan that was almost immaculately clean.

The teenager was dressed entirely in black, right down to the black baseball cap he had over his head and that was all I could gather about him. As for the other man, the only thing I could tell from my current position is that he had bright red hair, much the same as the man I had bumped into the other night.

Actually, as I squinted to try and get a better look, he seemed to even have the same build as the man I had bumped into…and his hair was held up in a bun, so it was at least long enough to pull that particular style off.

A sudden sense of dread had settled itself into the pit of my stomach. I really hoped and prayed it was only a coincidence, but my cop persona was telling me that it wasn't possible.

Hopefully he wouldn't remember me, if that happened to be the case.

"Hey, Kasumi-chan what are you doing?" I nearly jumped straight out of my skin as Keiko snuck up behind me so she could look out of the window too.

"Oh, I see, you're spying!"

"I am not spying!"

She gave me a dubious look, "_Sure_ you're not."

I shoved her away from me gently, making her giggle. I turned back to the window to resume my observation but by then I was too late, they had moved on, more than likely headed up to the apartment.

Keiko's hand landed on my shoulder so she could direct me away from the window and towards the door. Sure enough, I could hear voices coming from down the hallway through the open front entrance and I felt like I needed to run away. I didn't want to meet these people, I decided.

But Keiko's firm hand on my shoulder told me she knew what I was thinking and she wasn't going to just let me leave.

Kazuma entered first, his face telling me he was utterly irritated but when he spotted me he grinned. His curly locks hung almost to his chin, his pompadour long gone thanks to Yusuke's ministrations.

"Hey, Kasumi can I use the bathroom? I need to fix this – "He pointed to his hair and I just nodded, letting him know it was fine.

As he left the entry way, I was given a view of Yusuke up close and personal for the first time. Behind him stood exactly who I had dreaded – the redhead I had smashed into just the night before.

I tried my best to keep my eyes from straying, because Keiko was in the process of introducing us, as the three other men shuffled into the room.

"Yusuke," She shoved me forward, "This is Morimoto Kasumi, that friend I was telling you about the other day."

Hesitantly I bowed to him in greeting, which he snorted at and then I noticed a hand sticking out in front of my face. I straightened and stared at his hand in confusion, until he grabbed my own and placed it in his. He shook my hand vigorously and I couldn't help when my eyes shot up to his in surprised shock.

Yusuke had nice eyes, I discovered, they were a chocolaty brown and I could see a hint of some hidden turmoil buried deep beneath their surface. It made him look older than he actually was, like he had seen things that not many people should ever have to see in their lifetime. They also held kindness, mischief, and the tiniest bit of pain. This man has been through more than he was letting on with his bad boy demeanor.

I realized I had yet to say anything to him, so I took a deep breath and then tried to greet him properly. What came out wasn't exactly the most eloquent thing I've ever said. "U-uh, hi…it's nice to finally meet you! Keiko hasn't told me jack shit about you!"

Keiko smacked me in the back of the head and caused me to pitch forward toward Yusuke. It took some interesting maneuvering on my part not to fall head first into him. Instead, I dodged his body, hopped on one foot and then slammed my back into the wall.

Yusuke laughed raucously at my behavior and it caused me to blush in embarrassment. Will I ever not make a fool of myself?

He turned to smile at me, "It's nice to see someone else on the receiving end of that slap!"

"You'll be next Yusuke if you don't behave yourself!"

"Yeah, yeah Keiko…" Yusuke trailed off so he could eye me up and down one last time, his eyes narrowed and some hidden emotion flashed beneath their depths, but a second later it was gone and he moved on so he could take in the apartment.

"Woo, Keiko this is a pretty nice place!" Yusuke was standing in the middle of our living room, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, but a look of wonder had crossed his features.

As he started to wander around, to get a better look at everything, I pushed myself off the wall and collected my wits about me so I could make it through the next two introductions.

Keiko's eyes were following Yusuke around nervously and I could tell she wanted to go to him, so I decided to do this as quickly as possible, like ripping a band aide off after it's been stuck to your skin for too long.

"Oi Keiko, want to introduce me to your other two friends so Kazuma and I can go pick my stuff up?"

She still looked distracted but I had at least gained most of her attention. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Kasumi, this is Minamino Shuichi –"She pointed to the redhead who smiled at me knowingly, "And this is Hiei-san."

The sound of a scuffle behind us momentarily distracted Keiko from the introductions and we turned as a group to see Kazuma and Yusuke once again beating each other up. With her hands on her hips and flames in her eyes, Keiko stomped over to them to put a stop to it, leaving me alone with the other two.

"Uh…" I didn't really know what to say, but before I could blurt out something stupid Minamino-san stepped forward with his hand out stretched.

I grasped it gratefully, smiling shyly as I shook his hand.

"It's nice to see you again Morimoto-san, allow me to apologize once more for last night."

My face was burning, but I managed to spit out a semi-coherent sentence. "Oh no, it was completely my fault. What a coincidence that you ended up being the Minamino Shuichi-san that Keiko was telling me about earlier."

"Yes, coincidence indeed, I had not at all expected you to be the devil woman Morimoto Kasumi-san that Yusuke has been raving about for days."

"Devil woman?" What the _hell_ was that supposed to mean?

Shuichi chuckled lightly, "Yes, he seems to think you are a bad person, though he's doing a remarkable job hiding it at the moment."

And for a moment there, I had actually thought all the talk about Yusuke being a bastard was just that, talk. But now, I had completely changed my mind. Where did he get off calling me names when he hadn't even met me yet? What a jerk.

Shuichi must have seen the anger boiling over into my eyes, so he attempted to placate me. "Please do not take anything he says to heart. He only worries for Keiko-chan; she is his most important person."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind." No, I probably wouldn't, but this guy didn't need to know that. "Minamino-san, if you'd like I prepared some coffee in the kitchen, please help yourself."

I directed him to the kitchen door, but he respectfully declined and then moved on so he could join the group in the middle of touring the apartment. Apparently Keiko had decided it would be easier just to show Yusuke around instead of letting him get into mischief on his own.

That left only the teen, Hiei-san was it, standing in the doorway. His entire demeanor screamed that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with what was going on. I couldn't see much of his face because he had pulled the visor of his ball cap down too far and he had his hands shoved into the pockets of his black jeans.

He looked like the textbook definition of an angst ridden teenager. The aura he was giving off was almost ominous and it took me a moment to remember my manners. Like I had done with Yusuke, I bowed to him because something in the back of my head told me not to shake his hand.

He bowed back and when we both rose from our greeting, I took stock of him once more. Now that I could see him up close I realized that I had been wrong earlier, this person was certainly _not_ a teenager. He was just rather short for a full grown man (I would put him at about 5'4"), but the lean muscles, stance, and definition of his body told me that he was _anything_ but a child.

The clothes he wore clung tantalizingly to his obviously well maintained physique, the black t-shirt showing off his pectoral muscles and his powerful arms (one of which was covered almost entirely in bandages, how strange). As for the jeans…well, they fit him very well, let's just say that. I just wished I could get a better look at his face.

The visor threw most of his features into shadow, leaving me with only a view of his chin and mouth. From what I could make out I saw high cheek bones and thin, but nice, lips set into an angular face. If I was being truthful, I would definitely say he was more attractive than Shuichi. If only I could see his eyes.

After a long moment of silence, where we just seemed to be sizing each other up, he nodded to me and then walked past. Not a single word had left his lips and I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't gotten to hear his voice.

I guess what Kazuma and Keiko had told me earlier was spot on – this man was not exactly the friendly sort. There was something extremely off about him, his presence alone made me uneasy. I shifted on my feet, unable to stop my eyes from following him as he went to stand beside Shuichi.

I couldn't stay here, not in this room, not with that man. I don't know what it was, but my trepidation was starting to make me paranoid. I needed to get out of here.

"Kazuma!" I barked loudly, making everyone turn to stare at me.

I blushed, but barreled on ahead anyway, "Can we go get my stuff now, please?"

He was eyeing me like I had gone mad, but I didn't care. I felt like I was suffocating and I needed a breath of fresh air. Before he could even answer, I was out the door and headed down the stairs.

'_What the hell is wrong with you Kasumi? You don't even know that guy but yet you're letting his mere presence affect you like this?'_

I ran down all three flights of stairs, rushed out the door, and then stopped next to Kazuma's truck. I bent at the knee, grasped them with my hands and just breathed for a moment. My braid hung over my shoulder, and I flipped it away from my face in irritation.

Before I could start hyperventilating, a hand landed on my shoulder and caused me to jump. I swung behind me, trying to hit my assailant but my punch was grabbed in a hand much larger than my own.

"Kasumi, it's only me. Kami, are you alright!?"

It was only Kazuma, his hand gripped mine tightly and I wrenched it from his grasp so I could wrap my arms around his middle and hug him. Even though I knew he was confused he never hesitated to wrap his arms around me in return, crushing my tiny frame to his larger body.

I buried my face into his chest, just trying to catch my breath so I could form a coherent thought. What the hell was my problem? I couldn't even answer the question myself, how was I going to explain my behavior to my friends.

Kazuma respected that I wasn't ready to talk, he had always been very in tune with other people's emotions, and he just held me to him until I backed away.

I shuffled my feet, stared at the ground and blushed once again. I was being stupid.

"Let's head to your apartment to get your things. You can tell me why you're acting like this on the way, alright?"

All I could do was nod as he opened the passenger's door for me and waited for me to climb in before closing it behind me. A few seconds later he joined me in the cab and started the truck up.

It took a couple of minutes of silence as he drove before he finally asked, obviously not wishing to wait for me to finally open my mouth. "So, what was that back there?"

"Um…" What the hell was I going to tell him? 'Oh hey, your friend gives me the creeps!' Yeah, I'm sure that would go over real well.

"Kasumi, you can tell me."

I sighed; he wasn't going to let it go so I might as well be truthful. "Your friend made my spidey senses tingle."

The Spiderman joke was a long running one between us. My intuition about people was one of the reasons I had wanted to become a police officer. I prided myself on being a good judge of character and my friends had often accused me of having a sixth sense when it came to certain things.

I was slightly disappointed and a whole lot of confused when Kazuma didn't laugh at my joke, but instead only frowned worriedly at the windshield.

"It was more than that Kasumi and you know it."

"I don't think I do." Kazuma didn't need to know that his friend had an aura about him that was akin to an axe murderer's.

He took his eyes off the road for a moment so he could give me an unimpressed look. Kazuma's intuition was not unlike my own and I was positive he knew I was lying.

"Okay, fine. Your friend Hiei…he made me wary…and nervous. You can't tell me you haven't felt it yourself."

He was silent for a long while, the sounds of our breaths and the rush of wind as it flew over the truck the only thing I could hear.

"Kasumi…" He started slowly, "This happens a lot, yeah?"

"You know it does Kazuma-kun."

"Have you ever…seen anything strange…when you feel these things?"

What the hell was Kazuma going on about now? Why did our conversations seem to be taking weird turns lately? I didn't like it, not at all.

"What the fuck do you mean by strange?" He winced at my use of foul language, but I could care less at that point. I had become angry and my confusion certainly wasn't helping the situation.

"Nothing, never mind Kasumi."

"Oh like hell are you going to get off that easily, tell me!"

"I said it was nothing!" He snapped and it instantly shut me up. Kazuma didn't often yell at me, but when he did I knew better than to push him. It would get me nowhere.

The rest of the car ride to my old apartment was filled with awkward silence. Kazuma looked regretful for yelling at me, but I was so pissed off that he would be lucky if I talked to him again for the rest of the day.

As we pulled up to the curb in front of my old place I hopped out of the truck before he could come open the door and then ran all the way up to my apartment. By the time Kazuma had caught up to me I was already carrying a stack of boxes down to the truck. He tried to take them from my hands, but I danced around him, ignoring him completely.

He was quickly becoming irritated and I could see it every time we passed each other in the hall. I wouldn't be the first to break the silence, so I continued to give him the cold shoulder as we loaded my stuff into the bed of his truck.

Kazuma wasn't known for his patience, so I knew exactly when he had reached his limit. As I placed two more boxes into the bed of the truck he came up behind me and pinned me to the side of the vehicle. His hands splayed out over the black paint and his long arms caged me in. If I had really wanted to I could have ducked out from underneath them and been on my way, but I just stood there.

I refused to turn around and I heard him groan in frustration from behind me. "Kasumi, come on. You know I didn't mean to yell at you."

I stuck my nose up, adamantly refusing to acknowledge that he was speaking to me.

"Tch, don't be that way."

Oh, I totally was going to be that way. I didn't like when information was withheld from me and Kazuma was most definitely hiding something.

"Kasumi, I'm serious."

I continued to ignore him but that became much more difficult when he grabbed me by my shoulder and whirled me around to face him. Anger blazed in his light brown eyes but I stood my ground – unafraid.

His eyes softened a moment later, I wasn't sure what he saw that made him change his attitude but he backed away from me and gave me some space.

"Be mad at me if you want but I need to let you know something. That feeling you got earlier…don't worry about it. Hiei isn't exactly friendly, but he won't hurt you if you don't provoke him."

'_If I don't provoke him? What the hell? Is he telling me that if I were to provoke him he _would _hurt me?'_

I really wanted to keep giving him the cold shoulder, but that little bit of information he had just given me had opened up a whole slew of new questions.

"What do you mean by that, Kazuma?"

"All I'm saying is if you stay out of his way, he will stay out of yours."

"But…why would you want someone like that around?"

"We're not really friends Kasumi, at least me and Hiei aren't. He's more Yusuke's friend than mine and he's best friends with Shuichi."

"So you're friends by association then?"

"Yeah…something like that."

"Why did I feel like there was something…off about him?"

"You know how you're kind of socially challenged?"

"Yeah…" I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Well, think of him that way except one thousand times worse."

I blinked at him, taking a minute to process what he'd just said before I nodded in satisfaction. That would placate me for a while, but I knew there was more to this Hiei character than just that. There was something strange about all of them, actually and I planned to figure out what that something was, even if I had to use my influence as a cop to do it.

I schooled my features into a fake mask of understanding and smiled up at Kazuma. "Okay, I accept that explanation."

He breathed a sigh of relief that only made him look more suspicious in my eyes, but I let it drop for now. We had too much hard work left to do, the day wasn't nearly over yet and fighting with Kazuma was not one of my top priorities.

"Gee, Kasumi you know I hate fighting with you. Let's not do this again, huh?" He checked the watch attached to his wrist and his eyes widened, "Oh shit, we only have half an hour before the movers get there with your new furniture, we better hurry!"

Then he was off to grab the rest of my crap. I followed behind him at a much slower pace, lost in thought. I needed to come up with a plan on how to obtain more information on these new people that had suddenly entered my life…and in the process, I think I need to learn more about my friends too. I guess I didn't know them as well as I thought I had.

**. . .**

We ended up missing the movers, who had just dropped everything off on the curb in front of the building. That left the boys with the job of carrying it up the three flights of stairs. To my utter amazement they made it look easy. Seeing Hiei carry my mattress without the assistance of another had truly been something to marvel at. He hadn't even broken a sweat by the time he got it up to the apartment.

All I had been able to do is stutter out a quick thank you, which he had answered with a monosyllabic "hn," when he had got it through the door and I had been forced to direct him to my room so he could put it down. Yusuke followed after him a few minutes later with all the pieces to my bedframe held in his muscular arms.

These men were something else. Even the feminine Shuichi could hold his own, carrying heavy items up the stairs like they weighed less than a sack of feathers.

What should have taken all day was practically cut in half thanks to the extra hands. Though Yusuke and Hiei both looked like they would rather be gouging out their own eyeballs with spoons than helping carry our stuff they both diligently continued to bring up boxes and furniture.

The couch had been the only item that presented a problem and not because they had trouble carrying it. Yusuke and Kazuma had grabbed it off the curb, the final piece of furniture and ultimately the heaviest. All the arm chairs had been carried up one by one by Hiei or Shuichi and by then all the boxes had been brought up and stacked around the apartment.

It took some interesting maneuvering to first get it up the stairs, because they weren't quite wide enough to carry the couch normally, so the two boys had been forced to lift it above their heads and at an angle. Keiko had laughed at my look of utter astonishment at the feat they had pulled off – I was unable to believe my eyes.

Who the hell is strong enough to lift a couch of that size almost above their heads? These two were apparently – I would have to give Kazuma shit later for always taking it easy on me during training. I knew he was strong, but this was something else.

Once they had gotten it up the stairs Shuichi decided to act like a foreman and direct where the two men went as they tried to shove the large item through our front door. It ended with all three of them arguing with each other on the best way to get it through the entrance.

Yusuke took things into his own hands and (after having Kazuma help him turn it sideways again) pushed it bodily through the door. To this day, if you look closely enough, you can see the nick in the wood of the doorframe he had made from this stupid stunt. Keiko and I decided it was best not to mention it to baba Chiyo in fear our hides would be tanned if she were to find out.

I let Keiko direct everyone on where to place our furniture and soon enough our apartment was starting to look a lot less empty and much more homey. The dining table and chairs were set up by the windows near the kitchen door and the couch, along with two arm chairs, had been placed a short distance away from the fireplace. In lieu of a coffee table we put our brand new kotatsu down in front of the couch. Two of Keiko's bookshelves (the third having been placed in her room) lined the wall to the far right of the living space.

Our beds had yet to be assembled but all it took to get them put together was begging Kazuma to do it for me. He agreed readily, probably having already assumed he would get roped into doing it anyway. It took a little more convincing on Keiko's part to get Yusuke to put hers back together and what eventually clinched it was Kazuma offering to do it because "Yusuke obviously wasn't man enough to take care of his woman."

I don't think I've ever seen two men make a chore into a competition, but I did that day and Kazuma's ultimate triumph over Yusuke had made all of us laugh – all except for the dark and sinister Hiei, of course.

I had taken today, as well as tomorrow, off of work so I could get our new place situated and spend some much needed time with my friends. What I hadn't expected was for everyone to stick around, even after all was said and done. While Keiko and I busied ourselves with putting our new as well as old (but well loved) items in their rightful places the boys sat around chatting amicably with one another.

I noticed in passing that Hiei didn't much participate (if at all, I really couldn't tell if he was just speaking when I wasn't in the room or if he was just not talking in general) in the conversation, but at some point during the time Keiko and I spent putting our apartment to rights, one of the boys had gone out and gotten firewood (don't ask me from where).

As I trekked through the living room to put away our bath towels I had to stop and stare as Hiei started a fire in the fireplace. I don't know who asked him to, or if he had just taken it upon himself, but he had it roaring in no time flat. As he fed the hungry flames several small logs his face was illuminated underneath his cap just enough for me to finally get a look at his eyes.

I stood there floored at what I saw. Hiei's eyes were huge, surrounded by thick lashes and unbelievably gorgeous (enough to make me a bit jealous, I will admit). What had stunned me in the first place was not so much the shape, but the color, of those eyes embedded into his tanned skin.

'_It must be a trick of the light. The flames reflecting off his irises or something, because no one has eyes _that _color!'_

But as he stood up and away from the flames, I knew that it wasn't an illusion caused by the lighting, his eyes _really _were a deep crimson red, like cherries or freshly spilled blood.

'_They have to be contacts, that color is far too unnatural to be anything else.'_

I must have looked like a complete moron standing there the way I was, in the middle of the living room and as pale as a sheet. My feelings of stupidity only multiplied when I got to hear him speak for the first time a second later.

"What are you staring at, onna?"

It was rude and gruff, but it still caused a blush to spread across my cheeks. His voice was pure sex – just as dark and rough as he seemed to be.

When I didn't immediately answer him his face screwed up into a look of annoyance and he barked in that same sensually deep voice, "Are you an idiot or something? Most people speak when they are spoken to."

"Hiei!" Shuichi looked absolutely appalled at his friend's words as he admonished him. He grabbed Hiei by his arm and pulled him down to sit in one of the armchairs.

Hiei wrenched his arm from Shuichi's grasp and for a moment I truly thought the man might hit the redhead. Instead he just reached up to pull the ball cap down further and shielded his eyes from view once more.

The room fell into an awkward silence and I could feel my blood boiling beneath the surface of my skin. Who the hell did this guy think he was, talking to me like that? I was so pissed I could feel myself shaking as I clenched my hands into fists and tried to prevent myself from beating the shit out of the guy.

Kazuma, having sensed my distress, rose from his seat on the couch and walked over to me. I didn't even acknowledge his presence; I was too busy attempting to bore holes into the back of Hiei's head. The other man studiously ignored me, not even caring that he had been so damn rude.

"Kasumi just let it go." Kazuma whispered to me, as if he were afraid the short man might hear.

Even though he had spoken so quietly Hiei's head still whipped around in our direction, a glare could be seen from beneath the ball cap, his red eyes narrowed and dangerous.

I allowed my features to morph into a facsimile of his own, animosity rolled off me in waves and it took Kazuma grabbing me by the arm to stop the staring contest we had been locked in. He dragged me from the room and into the kitchen. If the door hadn't been one that swung he probably would have slammed it behind him.

Keiko was still in there putting away our dishes and she jumped practically into the air, shocked by our sudden appearance. Kazuma didn't stop to explain to her as he laid into me.

"What did I say to you earlier?! I told you to leave him alone and there wouldn't be any problems!"

"Tch, really Kazuma?! So I was supposed to just let him talk to me like that, in my own home no less!"

Apparently our truce from earlier was now null and void, but this time I wasn't going to sit down and take it. I had settled on hating Hiei, his presence alone made me extremely uncomfortable, but his attitude had made that almost dissipate completely. Now all I wanted to do was wrap my hands around his neck and choke him.

"Kasumi, that's just how he is! He's rude and an asshole, but if you're not careful you're going to get hurt!"

"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm going to get hurt? Have you forgotten who the hell I am Kazuma?!"

Keiko tried to put herself in between us, but I just stepped around her so I could get into Kazuma's face again.

"If I wanted to I could kill that scrawny piece of shit with my bare hands!" I continued.

"Kasumi cut it out! Kazuma, go back out to the living room and do damage control. I'm positive everyone out there can hear you two. This is ridiculous!" Keiko interjected, stopping Kazuma from retorting.

When he tried to open his mouth, more than likely to spew something else at me, Keiko stomped her foot hard enough to make the floor shake. She pointed at the door and that was all it took to get Kazuma to high tail it out of the room, but not before shooting me a glance that told me we weren't done arguing just yet.

"Kasumi, what was that all about?" I was still so angry that I almost didn't even catch what Keiko had said. I glared at the door in the hope that Kazuma would return so maybe I could kick his ass instead.

"Kasumi, did you hear me?" She placed a hand on my shoulder and shook me gently. I brushed her off so I could pull myself up onto the counter. I sat, my legs dangling and not quite touching the floor.

I wouldn't look at my friend, letting my fringe hide my eyes from view and stewing in my anger. I wouldn't be surprised if she could feel it rolling off me.

Her dainty hands appeared on my knees a second later, squeezing in comfort but as I peered out from beneath my bangs her face told me I was about to get reprimanded. Keiko was like that with me sometimes; she would first try to make it clear she cared about me but then proceed to tell me what I had done wrong.

"So, was it Yusuke or Hiei-san that said something?"

My grimace at the short man's name clued her in to which boy had managed to get me so riled up and she just shook her head, her lovely brown locks swishing around her features. I sat up straighter so I could reach out and play with a few of the strands next to her cheek. I twirled them around my fingers, my anger suddenly deflated so I was just left with a feeling of shame caused by my behavior.

My shoulders slumped and after giving Keiko's silky hair one last tug, I let my hand fall too. I released a puff of air from my mouth, "I think I might have anger issues."

A laugh bubbled over her lips at my statement and she smiled warmly, "That's an understatement."

I pouted, causing Keiko to giggle again and then muss up my hair like Kazuma always does. I swear, they both think I'm some little kid or something. She had managed to mess up my hair pretty badly, so I was forced to take out the hair tie and let my braid unweave itself into messy, long waves. Keiko took the opportunity to run her fingers through the lengths, smoothing my hair down and making it look less like a rats nest.

"Are you ready to tell me what started all this?" She asked as her fingers pulled at a particularly tough knot.

"Hiei-san's eyes…"

"Huh?" She tried her best to look confused, but I could see it was just for show. There's no way she didn't know about the odd color of his irises.

"Don't pretend you haven't seen them. They're contacts, right?"

She nodded slowly, "Oh yes, they're definitely contacts. He likes to scare people or perhaps at least shock them a bit."

One of Keiko's eyes had twitched in the beginning, indicating that she was lying to me again. Why would she lie about this though? His eyes couldn't _actually _be red, could they? That led me to think of ways it could be possible – a birth defect, experiment gone wrong, poked himself in the eyes too many times, permanently blown capillaries, or maybe he was an alien. I laughed silently to myself at that last one – an alien, yeah right.

My eyes had narrowed and Keiko was starting to look nervous, I watched as a bead of sweat slid down her brow. She shuffled her feet, her hands freeing themselves from my hair so she could wring them together in another telling sign.

I opened my mouth to confront her about her extremely obvious unease but a loud shout of, "Urameshi, put that down!" Interrupted me completely, making me lose my train of thought.

Keiko's eyes shot worriedly to the door and I jumped from the counter so I could sprint out to the other room and see what Kazuma had been yelling about. What I saw instantly made my anger reappear tenfold and this time nothing was going to stop me from hurting someone.

Standing next to the couch was Yusuke, which was innocent enough, until you noticed what he held in his hands. I had forgotten all about it and it was such a rookie mistake that not only was I angry at him, but myself.

"Urameshi, I'm serious, put that damn thing down!" Kazuma was cowering behind one of the arm chairs, peeking out only occasionally so he could yell at Yusuke again.

Yusuke only laughed, waving my gun around like it was a toy. "Oh come on Kuwabara, this is just a BB gun right? Don't be such a pansy!" And apparently he thought it was a toy too.

I heard Keiko gasp from behind me but I sure as hell wasn't going to wait for one of these other idiots to stop him. Hiei sat in the armchair directly next to Yusuke looking bored and Shuichi had pushed himself as far away from the other man on the couch as he could get. Like that would save him, the moron. Even Kazuma, hiding behind the chair, should know better. If the gun were to go off it would tear through just about anything.

I launched myself across the room, pulling Yusuke into a grapple I had practiced hundreds of times. While I had him pinned I disarmed him, knocking the gun from his hand and sending it skittering across the floor. I used my legs to wrap around his own and pulled him down hard to the ground. He landed with an "Oomph" and I kept him pinned long enough to roll over so I was straddling his waist. When he tried to buck me off I punched him.

He looked more shocked than hurt, which is what I had been aiming for in the first place, but that look of shock was soon replaced with one of anger. An eerie light danced in the young man's eyes, unnatural and strange and undeniably dangerous. I wasn't going to give him the chance to try anything, so I rose off him as calmly as I could.

He was on his feet not even a second later, his fists clenched and eyes narrowed into a glare. "What the fuck did you do that for, you bitch?"

I ignored him; I had been called a bitch more than once in my lifetime and it held no impact over me. I walked over to where my gun had come to rest, picked it up, made sure the safety was still on, and then emptied it of its clip. When Yusuke saw the very real bullets in the magazine his eyes widened to something akin to saucers.

"Oh shit, that thing's real!" His anger was long forgotten in the face of the danger he could have potentially put himself and all his friends in.

Kazuma had shot up from his hiding spot after seeing me take apart my weapon and he rounded on Yusuke, "I told you that you moron! This is what happens when you don't listen; do you think I was crouching behind the chair because I was afraid a stray BB might hit me? And you call me stupid!"

"You are stupid Kuwabara, if you hadn't been screaming like a little girl after I picked it up maybe I would have heard that part about it _being a real goddamn gun!_" Yusuke was waving his hands around in frustration, but his eyes certainly hadn't shrunk in size and they hadn't strayed from the bits of metal death I held in my hands.

I was absolutely seething, "Why the hell did you think you had the right to touch _anything_ here that doesn't belong to you, let alone something like this?"

He had the sense to look a bit sheepish, but I could tell he didn't much care for my tone of voice. "Oh, and what gave you the right to pin me down and hit me, you psycho?!"

"You're lucky that's all I did. If you had shot someone it would have been on my head."

"How do you figure?"

"This is my gun and I am responsible for it." I walked over and set the pieces down on the kotatsu, now that I had it taken apart I might as well clean the damn thing.

I made short work of pulling the chamber out of my police issued Glock 19, pulling it all apart until I could access the inside of the weapon. Yusuke had come to stand behind me as I sat and skillfully disassembled the gun, bit by bit.

"Why in seven hells do you have a gun in the first place? That's fucking dangerous!"

I didn't bother to answer because Keiko had come up behind him, tugged on his ear and pulled him into the kitchen with her. I could hear her yell at him from all the way out here. Snippets of, "Yusuke you dolt!" and "You're lucky you didn't kill someone!" provided some nice background noise as I went to hunt through my still unpacked boxes for my gun's cleaning kit.

I found the box marked 'Uniforms' where I had packed all my police related items and luckily enough the kit was on top of everything. I grabbed it, checked it over to make sure I had all I needed and then returned to the kotatsu.

By the time I made it back to the table, Kazuma was sitting at one end, his legs neatly tucked underneath it. He had emptied the magazine of its bullets so he could roll them around the table like a child would with marbles.

I sat back down beside him and arranged the items I would be using so they were close at hand.

"What are you doing, Kazuma-kun?" He looked away from me, obviously still being petty about our fight earlier.

"Fine, I prefer to do this in silence anyway."

I cleaned and oiled the gun until it was practically pristine, all the while aware of the eyes that were bored into the back of my skull as I worked. Apparently, both Hiei and Shuichi thought what I was doing was interesting, but it was starting to grate on my nerves.

As I snatched the bullets back from Kazuma so I could put them back into the magazine Keiko and Yusuke came stomping out of the kitchen. She must have been in there yelling at him for a good half an hour. It was a wonder his ears hadn't fallen off in the process.

Keiko took a seat across from Kazuma and next to me, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing in irritation. I felt Yusuke sit down behind me on the couch, but when he leaned over me to see what I was doing I was sorely tempted to head-butt him in the face.

"So you never answered my question, why do you have a gun? I don't particularly like that my girlfriend might be living with a mobster."

He was so close to my ear that it took every ounce of my self-control not to jump when he spoke, but his question had made the room fall silent. Both Kazuma and Keiko looked a bit guilty and I realized a moment later why that was.

'_Those two never bothered to tell Yusuke I was a cop! _I frowned to myself, disturbed by this revelation, _'But why…?'_

The awkward silence stretched on and on…so I decided I might as well tell him the truth. I didn't really understand why neither of my friends had bothered to inform him but I was about to find out why.

"I'm a police officer; I work for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

This got a strange reaction out of him (and if I had bothered to notice, Hiei and Shuichi as well), he shot up in his seat so he was straight backed and I couldn't help but turn around to look at his face. His eyes were wide once more and a grimace of distaste had graced his features. "A cop…you've got to be kidding me." He mumbled to himself.

My eyes darted from Yusuke back to Keiko and Kazuma, who both had identical looks of trepidation. I got it now…why they hadn't wanted me to meet Yusuke – he was a criminal.

I turned back to the black haired, olive skinned man, and let a sneer cross over my lips. "Oh, are you afraid of police officers Urameshi-san? Is there something in your past you've wanted to keep hidden?"

His eyes had narrowed into a scathing glare; his lips pursed and face a mask of hatred. It only caused me to smile, because I believed I had hit the nail directly on its head. "That's it isn't it? So what did you do? Are you a thief…no, something worse than that…a member of a gang perhaps?"

"Kasumi…" Kazuma's voice was low – a warning.

I rounded on him then, sick and tired of the secrecy. "Is this why neither of you bothered to tell me much about him? Why you have obviously been hiding my identity as well?"

"It's not that Kasumi-chan…I promise Yusuke isn't a criminal."

"I'm sorry Keiko, but I think you're lying. Just like you have been since the day I met you. You should know how I feel about liars!"

I shot up from my seat, taking my gun with me so I could stuff it back in the waist band of my pants. I couldn't deal with this now. Not in front of all these people I didn't know. I marched over to the door, grabbing my police issued jacket as I went and studiously ignoring my friends.

"Kasumi, where are you going?" Keiko and Kazuma had risen to follow me, but I would have none of that.

"I'm going to the precinct; I can't be around you right now."

Keiko was clearly upset, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "But I thought you took today off?"

"Yeah well, I changed my mind. I don't know when I'll be back. Don't wait up."

And then I walked out the door, making it a point to slam it behind me. If they wanted to harbor a criminal that was their prerogative, but I wasn't going to stick around and watch as they did. I would get to the bottom of the mystery that was Urameshi Yusuke or I would turn in my badge and gun and give up on being a police officer. If I can't figure this out I wasn't worthy anyway.

**. . .**

I had called my partner to come pick me up after I had started the long walk to the precinct, while it was only about a ten to fifteen minute drive (could take up to half an hour in heavy traffic though) it would take significantly longer to walk. I didn't particularly want to be lost in my anger filled thoughts for that length of time so I had pulled out my cell phone and called my rival up.

That's right…my partner was the enemy… or the devil, whichever way you wanted to look at it. He had graduated top of our class in the academy (only beating me just barely in one subject!) and had been given a job right off the bat at the same precinct that hired me. He might be a rookie like me, but our Captain certainly didn't treat him like he was.

They had given my partner his own squad car even; my jealousy was well known in the precinct because I absolutely couldn't stand the guy. We fought constantly and when I had been informed by our Commander that he was to be my new partner…I might have blown a gasket if it had been anyone other than that man who told me.

I was still walking when he finally pulled up beside me, following me with the squad car and a stupid, triumphant grin could be seen on his face through the window. He rolled the passenger side window down as he pulled to a stop beside me, but as I tugged on the door's handle to try and enter the vehicle I found it locked.

"What, are you going to make me crawl through the window you asshole?"

"As entertaining as that would be to watch, no I won't make you do that."

I heard the locks unlatch and sighed in relief that he wasn't going to play some stupid game with me, so I climbed in beside him and did my best to ignore the quizzical look on his face.

"So…I'm kind of surprised you called. You must have been desperate."

I glared at him, Amano Ren was the biggest jerk I had ever met and I had no qualms letting him know what I thought of him.

"Shut the hell up and drive Ren."

"Fine, fine…no need to be so impatient."

He pulled back out onto the street and we didn't speak again for a good long while. I occupied myself by sneaking glances at him. I had known Ren for a while now, a little over a year, but he had changed quite a bit since graduating from the academy. When he had entered he had been this scrawny, tall, almost frail looking man, but now he was completely different.

His body had filled out, with new muscle and strength he had been lacking before the training the academy provided. Now, his height and body size combined made him look anything but frail – he looked much more formidable and intimidating. His black hair was kept in a military style buzz cut, but it happened to be quite attractive when combined with his rugged features. His eyes were a tantalizing shade of blue and his full lips as well as defined jaw made quite the picture. Women tended to fawn over him whenever possible.

I was _not_ one of those women, though I found him highly attractive, his personality was an utter turn off.

"You know Kasumi, I can't let you go into work dressed the way you are."

I looked down at my attire – besides my police jacket I did not have a single piece of my uniform on. I hadn't even thought to bring my badge. Though I hated to admit it, Ren was right. The Captain wouldn't even let me set foot into the office let alone go out on patrol without the proper garments.

"Can I just ride along with you then?"

Ren laughed at me derisively, "Are you kidding? No."

"Oh come on, I'm your partner for Christ sakes!"

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, a smirk stretching his lips across his teeth. "I suppose I could let you ride around with me for a while…for a price."

This was one of the issues I had with working with Ren. He was always trying to find new ways to one up me or embarrass me. Especially in front of the others at the precinct – it was practically his favorite past time.

"Screw that, just drop me off here and I'll walk the rest of the way."

"Don't be like that, I promise it won't be anything too horrible."

I didn't trust him, not for a second but I decided to go along with it anyway. If it would get me out of my apartment for a couple of hours so I could calm down it might be worth it…I hope.

"…Well, what is it then?"

He smiled, his eyes crinkling up in joy. "Let me take you out on a date this weekend."

I choked on my own spit, sputtering and coughing like some idiot. I must not have heard that correctly! There is no way Amano Ren just asked me out on a date, no way in hell!

"That's not funny Ren! Tell me what you really want!" I managed to choke out between coughing fits.

"That is what I really want so if you don't agree to those terms I can turn back around and drop you off…"

"But I hate you! And you hate me!" This just didn't make sense; I must be stuck in some nightmare.

"You've made it clear over the past year how much you dislike me, but I never said I hated you in return."

This floored me…I had to admit it was true. While Ren spent a good portion of his time picking on me or competing with me, he had never once done so with malicious intent. I had always taken his ribbing as a challenge and his attitude towards me had caused me to feel less than friendly towards him. Did this mean he had romantic feelings for me then?

'_Oh Kami, I hope not.'_

"So, yes or no Kasumi?"

"I don't know! I don't like you, why would I want to spend an entire day with you?"

"I never said it had to be a whole day, a few hours would suffice."

I placed a hand to my chin in contemplation. Either I could agree to his terms and be required to spend several, more than likely painstaking, hours with this man over the weekend or I could go back to the apartment and deal with the Keiko and Kazuma situation.

I settled on what I felt was the lesser of two evils and would not end with me losing my two best friends. With a grimace of disgust I turned back to my partner, "Fine, I'll go out on a date with you. But nowhere too fancy, I hate dressing up."

As he pulled up to a red light and came to a stop he turned to me and smiled. I think this might have been the first time he had directed such a stunningly genuine smile towards me and it made my heart skip a beat. Maybe the date wouldn't be so bad after all…

**. . .**

**A/N: **Uh oh…Kasumi is going on a date! Ren will be seen more and more as the story progresses. Sorry about another boring chapter, but at least all the boys finally showed their pretty faces! As for Hiei's strange/human outfit, Kurama dressed him of course, lol. Please read and review, I'd love to know what everyone thought! Thanks!


	4. Human Punching Bag

**A/N: **Hello again, I should be updating Atlas but the plot bunnies won't get lost when it comes to this story. I know several people that are keeping up with my other fic, so don't fret, I will update it again eventually (I have half a chapter already written even). I've always been transparent when it comes to how I update – sporadically and when I feel like it. Hoping to get more plot into this chapter, so stay tuned.

**Disclaimer: **In the first three chapters, go look for it there if you want.

**Warnings: **Same as always! (I'm too lazy to write them out today!)

**. . .**

Ren dropped me off several hours later, it was already dark out but I could see the apartment's lights blazing cheerily through the windows that faced the street. I knew Keiko was waiting for me and even though I had calmed down significantly I still didn't want to face her. I was just standing in front of our gated door, staring at its handle like it had all the answers.

"Do you need me to walk you up?" A call came from behind me somewhere.

I turned around to see that Ren hadn't moved on like I thought he had, he was still parked on the side of the road and I could see him leaning over the passenger seat in the car so he could yell out the side window.

"You wish Ren." I winked at him and then pulled out my key so I could unlock the door.

I heard him curse before the cruiser finally pulled back out onto the street and slowly drove off. I knew he was watching to make sure I actually entered the building so I gave the guy a break and went inside, but I took my time walking up the three flights of stairs to our apartment door.

As I reached the entrance to our home, I saw that Keiko had put out the doormat we had picked together after I saw that all our neighbors had one. It said "Enter at Your Own Risk" with a warning symbol and was just a basic brown in color; Keiko thought it would be appropriate considering I lived here and could seriously injure someone if I wanted to.

I could hear laughter beyond the door and a smile graced my face – I was happy they hadn't remained upset after I left. No matter what happened between me and my friends, I would still want them to be happy. My hand hesitated on the doorknob; I was having difficulty deciding whether or not I wanted to go in. I could tell that it wasn't just Keiko and Kazuma inside, which meant their friends were still here. I didn't want to ruin their fun by interrupting.

I was about to turn around and walk back out when the door suddenly opened and there stood Yusuke. He was grinning widely and that grin only spread when he saw how shocked I must look. He peaked back inside for a moment, and then satisfied with whatever he saw, shut the door and barred my entrance by putting his back against it.

"Yo!" He waved sarcastically, the lopsided grin still firmly in place.

"Uh…how did you know I was out here?" I was kind of suspicious of this guy as it was…but how had he known I was standing outside the door? Did he have X-ray vision or something?

"I can smell a pig from a mile away."

Now _that _was just goddamn _rude_, "I suggest you never call me that again if you don't want me to kick your ass."

He chuckled, "Wouldn't that be police brutality?"

I shot him a scathing glare, the fact he was right and I couldn't lay a finger on him unless absolutely necessary made me seethe. I had the sudden wish that I could catch him in the act of committing a crime someday so I would at least get the chance to tackle him.

"Can I go in, please?" I decided it would be best just to ignore him instead of letting him suck me into some childish and petty argument.

He eyed me up and down, his eyes taking much longer to do so than I was comfortable with, but I could tell it wasn't sexual to him. He had no interest in my body…but what was he looking for and why?

"Listen, Morimoto – "he used no honorific after my name, another ploy to rile me up I'm sure, "I came out here to apologize."

My mouth fell open in surprise and all I could do was gape at him like a fish out of water gasping for air. I really needed to be on my toes around this guy, his attitude and moods seemed to shift at the drop of a hat.

"Why?"

"Because, you're going to be seeing a lot of me and Keiko really likes you, don't ask me why. I give Keiko a hard time about a lot of things but I care about her…and she cares about you, so it would be better for all parties if we could at least be civil."

I raised an eyebrow, contemplating what he had just said. I was impressed by his maturity, especially because he gave off the impression that he would never grow up.

"Will you be able to overlook the whole cop thing?"

"If you stop thinking I'm some kind of criminal, than yeah, I can."

"Well…_are_ you some kind of criminal?"

His face turned serious, the smile falling away to reveal a range of emotions, from sadness to anger. He frowned, his eyes turned downcast but a moment later it passed and his brown eyes flicked up to me once more.

"I'm not going to lie to you and say that I have never committed a crime, because I have. I was a horrible kid and made a lot of bad decisions. I could blame a number of things for why I did it but really, it was my own fault in the end."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I was pretty lost at this point, though my respect level for the man in front of me had just jumped significantly higher.

"Keiko and Kuwabara were pretty upset after you stormed out so I dragged more information about you out of them. You're an interesting character Morimoto – I'd like to get to know you better."

I was floored, honestly unable to form a reply; Yusuke having taken notice of this clapped a hand onto my shoulder and that stupid grin spread across his face again. "But don't go thinking we're suddenly buddies, I hate cops and that will probably never change."

"Don't worry Urameshi-san, I will _make_ it change." I would too and he won't even realize it is happening until it's already all said and done.

His hand squeezed my shoulder, a bit tighter than was necessary, "I doubt that, but it will be fun seeing you try."

He let his hand drop and turned back to the door so he could go back inside. "Oh and Morimoto, you can call me Yusuke from now on." He smiled at me from over his shoulder, then turned the knob and let the door fall open.

I grabbed his hand before he could enter, "Yusuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Kasumi, okay?"

He smiled softly, "Sure. Now come on, we're throwing you guys a house warming party!"

"Huh?" I stumbled behind him, bewildered and spinning from this complete change of character on his part.

He just laughed as he dragged me through the door, only stopping long enough to allow me to kick my shoes off before he pulled me further into the living room. There was still a fire blazing in the fire place and I took notice that there were two new additions to the people sitting on my furniture. In one armchair was Hiei and across from him sat the older Kuwabara. I was surprised Shizuru was here and I could tell that she had been drinking heavily. Actually, I noticed before that Yusuke smelt a bit like alcohol but I hadn't said anything.

Now I knew why as I could see beer cans strewn about the floor and table. My inner cop grimaced at the sight but I was off duty and needed to let some things slide. We were all almost legal and I couldn't say that I hadn't drunk underage. It would be hypocritical of me to reprimand them.

On the couch was Shuichi, Keiko and the final person I did not know. It was definitely a girl but her bright blue hair was rather shocking. I had a hard time taking my eyes off the back of her head but took notice of Kazuma sitting on a pillow by the kotatsu, beer in hand and face flushed from the alcohol.

He was the first to spot us as Yusuke pulled me over to the group. "Kasumi-chan, you came back!" He cried out loudly, causing the room's occupants to turn and stare at me.

I felt like a deer caught in headlights as Yusuke dropped my hand and then moved behind me to grab my shoulders so he could wheel me over to the kotatsu. He pushed on my shoulders until I sat on a pillow, my back to the fireplace, the heat of the flames warming me up nicely.

Then Yusuke plopped down next to me and across from Kazuma, grabbing a beer and taking a long drink from the can. A drink was placed in front of me by a grinning Shizuru and I looked up at the older woman quizzically.

"Hey Kasumi, how have you been?" She sat back down in the arm chair, letting her legs stretch out in front of her and kicking Kazuma in the back in the process.

"Hey!" He turned to her incensed, but she only laughed at him.

"I've been well Shizuru-san, how are you?"

"Same old, same old, just trying to put up with this idiot from day to day – you don't happen to have an extra room for him do you?"

I shook my head, "Nope, sorry. But the couch is always available."

Kazuma, fearing his sister would kick him more if he stayed in his current spot, crawled his way over to me. He draped his long body over my shoulders, his head resting against the side of mine.

"She's so mean to me Kasumi-chan, can I stay here tonight?" He whined, causing Shizuru to sneer at him in disgust.

"Mean to you? I feed you, clothe you, and pay your college tuition, what more do you want?"

"You do not pay my college tuition! I received scholarships thank you very much!"

She snorted, "So what, the rest is true."

I rolled my eyes, patting Kazuma on the head comfortingly. "Of course you can stay here Kazuma, I'm sure Shizuru doesn't want to deal with your drunken ass anyway."

Shizuru laughed raucously, "Isn't that the truth!" She held her beer can up to me in a mock salute, and then took a swag.

"Awe, Kasumi now you're gunna gang up on me with her too? So mean…" He pouted and then nuzzled my head like some kind of animal.

Fed up, I shoved him off me and made him fall over backwards. He sprawled out on the floor, managing to hold his beer up so it didn't spill and then just laid there. Laughter filled the room and I tried my best to smile, but I was very uncomfortable surrounded by all these people I didn't know.

Yusuke leaned over so he could whisper in my ear, "Don't look so stiff, pig."

I didn't bother to whisper back, "Stop calling me that!"

He leaned back and released a laugh straight from his belly, making Kazuma sit up so he could see what was going on and then start laughing himself like some idiot, even though he had no idea what Yusuke had said.

A second later my redheaded friend seemed to realize it too, "Hey, wait, what's so funny?"

Yusuke only laughed harder, slapping Kazuma on the back and making the poor man pitch forward. I caught him before he could slam into me and he smiled gratefully. "Thanks Kasumi…and I'm really glad you came back."

He sounded suspiciously more sober than he had a moment ago but when I turned to him so I could tell him I was sorry for storming out something caught my eye before I could. The blue haired girl I had yet to be introduced to had stood up so she could slink her way down to the final space open at the kotatsu, directly across from me.

Her hair was extremely long and held in a high ponytail so it swished behind her back as she moved. I looked for roots at the top of her head but couldn't see any, meaning it was a well done (if odd colored) dye job. I kind of liked it honestly. I had never been brave enough to dye my hair any color, let alone a bright cotton candy blue.

She was pale, with nice features, a button nose and big, full lashed eyes. Her eyes though, oh kami, she was another one with weird colored eyes. Did Keiko have a lot of friends like this? The woman's eyes were an interesting shade of pink, almost magenta but a little brighter than that. If they didn't remind me so much of Hiei's I might have thought they went well with her candy colored hair, but now I was just freaked out.

When she stretched out a hand in greeting I shirked away from it, rearing back like a frightened animal. An aura of death hung closely to this woman, gripping to her like the claws of some beast and I refused to shake her hand. She drew it back, very obviously stung by my rejection and Keiko finally stepped forward. She had yet to speak to me, probably angry at the way I had left earlier, but she came around the kotatsu so she could fold her knees underneath her and sit next to me on the floor.

"Kasumi, this is my friend Botan, I'm sorry I didn't introduce you sooner."

The blue haired girl tentatively smiled again but instead of trying to shake my hand, she shot up from her seat and bowed. Her beautiful hair spilled forward over her shoulder but she made no move to rise from the bow. Remembering that I was not an uncouth slob, I stood as well and bowed in return.

We both returned to our seated positions and I felt Keiko's hands grip my shoulders tightly. She pulled me into a hug, resting her chin on my shoulder. "I'm sorry about earlier Kasumi-chan and I want to talk to you later, but for now, let's just enjoy tonight. Does that sound okay?"

I nodded and drew back so I could smile at my friend. She returned the gesture and then rose to go sit on the couch again, striking up a conversation with Shuichi. His hair was down now, flowing in gorgeous dark red waves over his left shoulder. Someday, I wished to run my fingers through it and see if it really was as soft as it looked. He noticed me admiring him and smiled knowingly, I blushed a bright red when I realized I'd been caught and turned back to the woman I had just been introduced to.

"It's very nice to meet you Kasumi, I've heard a lot about you! It is wonderful to be able to put a face to the name!"

I eyed the other woman up and down, cracked open my beer and drank from it. I knew I was being rather rude, but my suspicions regarding these people had not lessened, if anything they had only grown since coming back home.

"I hope they've been telling you good things." I finally said.

Kazuma scooted up next to me, pushing Yusuke out of the way so he could fit and getting a punch to the side for his efforts. He glared at the other man, but didn't retaliate, more than likely because he would forget his train of thought if he did. "Of course we told her good things, Kasumi! Right, Botan?"

Botan smiled happily, "Right!"

"Kasumi," Kazuma leaned over the table so he could rest his head on his arms and look up at me, "Don't be scared of Botan, I know she's funny looking but she's harmless, I swear."

"Who are you calling funny looking, mister?!" Botan squawked indignantly.

"When did I ever say I was scared of her?" I scratched the back of my head, running my fingers through my hair nervously. A drunk Kazuma could easily give away secrets about me I'd rather remained hidden.

"Well, you wouldn't shake her hand, that's a clue there. Plus – "He reached out and took my hand, like a palm reader he flipped it over and traced the lines there with his pointer finger. "I've known you long enough to be able to read you pretty well. You are afraid of just about everyone sitting here."

The room fell into silence, everyone having obviously heard what Kazuma had to say. I scrunched in on myself, snatching my hand back from him and ducking my head so my hair would fall forward and hide my face. I drank what was left of my beer in one fell swoop and I could see through my fringe as Shizuru pulled another one out of a cooler by her chair and handed it to me. I cracked that one and chugged half of it in my nervousness.

"Careful, you keep drinking like that you'll end up on the floor, pig."

The beer can I was holding ended up slightly misshapen as I crushed it in my anger, but remembered last minute there was still liquid inside it. That damn Yusuke, I was going to kill him if he kept it up.

"What did you just call her Urameshi?!" My eyes widened in shock, Kazuma had sounded seriously angry. A drunk _and _angry Kazuma was a thousand times worse than just regular old drunk Kazuma.

"What are you deaf? I called her a pig."

A second later and my orange haired friend had Yusuke lifted off the floor, held up by his shirt in Kazuma's fist. Yusuke looked completely unaffected, a cocky grin spread over his lips and his pinky finger digging for gold in his right ear. He flicked the ear wax at Kazuma and that was apparently the taller man's last straw. He hit Yusuke hard in the face, the other man's shirt ripped and he flew a few feet across the floor, skidding on his sock clad feet.

"Urameshi…I suggest you _never _call her that again. Kasumi isn't a pig, she's a respectable woman!"

"Ha! All cops are pigs to me; I don't care how great you think she is!" Yusuke ran at Kazuma, grabbing him in a headlock and kicking his feet out from underneath him.

They went barreling to the floor, punching each other and wrestling like a couple of morons. At one point they came pretty damn close to the fire blazing away in the fire place and for a moment I thought I would have to extinguish them, but last second they rolled in the other direction. Droplets of blood could be seen marring the shiny surface of our floors as their punches broke skin, their noses running red and I groaned in irritation because I knew I would have to clean it up later.

"Idiots…" I said. Only to look up in shocked surprise as the same word left the mouth of the black clad male a few feet away from me in the arm chair. We had spoken in unison and Hiei's face held an expression that must have closely mirrored my own.

He covered it up a moment later, ignoring that it had ever happened and I was happy to do the same. If I was being honest, I could happily ignore his presence for all eternity, if it wasn't such a suppressing one anyway.

That tiny little incident was long forgotten when Yusuke chose to pick up and _literally throw _Kazuma in my direction – I was positive he had meant for him to hit me too. Unfortunately for Yusuke, I was aware of my surroundings and I rolled out of the way quickly to avoid being squashed into the wood beneath us.

Kazuma's fall was only slightly cushioned when he landed on the pillow I had been kneeling on scant seconds before his descent. I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't had the wind knocked out of me and then I crawled over to my friend to see if he was alright. The goofy grin on his flushed face told me he was fine, so I sat on him, using his body as a replacement for the cushion he had accidently stolen.

I made sure to sit directly on his stomach, too.

He groaned in agony, my weight apparently being worse than Yusuke's previous beating as his features scrunched up into a grimace of pain. "Why are you sitting on me, Kasumi?" It came out strained and he moaned again.

"Stop being a baby, I don't weigh that much!"

"Yeah, but I've been drinking." He whined.

"I know, maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to drink underage." I smiled sweetly down at him, his face a mask of outrage.

"Sheesh, you're so mean Kasumi."

"I know that too."

"You know everything."

"Glad you realized that." I took pity on him and slid off his gut, but I was unable to help the laugh that escaped my mouth as I did so.

Our little moment was rudely interrupted when Yusuke decided to say, "Kuwabara, why don't you take her upstairs, you seem close enough!"

I noticed Kazuma visibly stiffen, his eyes narrowed and angry. "Urameshi, I would never do that with Kasumi, I'm in love with Yukina!"

Shortly after his exclamation of devotion for the woman he loved, I could have sworn I heard something akin to a growl, but it had been too low to properly register. My eyes darted around the occupants of the room, but not a single one acted like they had heard it nor did any look like they were the culprit. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, but I pushed the feeling aside so I could pay attention to what was going on in the here and now.

Yusuke only shook his head at Kazuma, "It was a joke, no need to be so serious."

My drunken friend then turned his head towards me, not bothering to move from his spread eagled position next to the kotatsu. "No offence Kasumi…I mean, I guess you're pretty and all, but you're like my sister. It would be super gross."

"Oh, gee, thank you so much Kazuma-kun. That makes me feel like a million bucks."

"…You're being sarcastic…right?"

"Oh kami," I put a palm to my forehead in exasperation. "Yes, I was being sarcastic."

Laughter could be heard around the room, Kazuma's drunken stupidity was always funny if not slightly pathetic, but he took the ribbing like a champ and only smiled.

Yusuke sat back in his original seat, his back to Hiei in the arm chair and next to Kazuma who was finally stirring from his sprawled out position. Yusuke pushed my beer can towards me across the table and I picked it up, nodding my thanks. He smirked, a sudden gleam in his eye that made me instantly wary.

"Hey, Kuwabara was telling me earlier that you're actually a pretty good fighter, but I think he was blowing smoke up my ass."

I avoided answering right away by taking a big gulp of my beer which was warm by then and kind of disgusting. I swallowed with a grimace but took another sip so I could finish it off, crushing the already mutilated can until it was a flat disk.

I set the hunk of aluminum down on the floor beside me, reminding myself to pick it up later. Without further distractions I turned my attention back to Yusuke. "Yeah, I know enough to get by."

I heard Kazuma snort beside me, "Enough to get by? Stop being so humble, it's stupid."

"Kuwabara said you knew like, three different styles of marital arts or something."

"It's four actually…"I mumbled, not really interested in talking about my private life with these people.

"Four?" He looked me up a down for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, his thumb and forefinger going to his chin in contemplation. "No way – not possible." He sat back, shaking his head.

"If you're trying to goad me into a fight it won't work, I could care less if you believe me or not." His demeanor turned slightly guilty (only because he'd been caught) but he still had that worrisome gleam in his eye that told me he was rerouting his plan.

"Maybe I am, so what? You're probably all talk anyway."

I didn't bother to mention that I had not once said a thing about myself and it had in fact been Kazuma who had told him anything to begin with. I just rolled my eyes, deciding to ignore him if only for my sanity.

Sadly, he made it nearly impossible. As soon as I turned away from him, perhaps even to talk to the strange blue haired woman across from me, Yusuke got physical with his goading. He poked me hard enough to make it hurt, right underneath one of my ribs. I cringed away, slapping his hand, but he only smirked.

"I wasn't finished talking to you, ya know." He grinned, flashing his not-so-pearly whites at me (staining on his teeth told me he either smoked or drank a lot of coffee) and leaned over to poke me again for good measure.

I swatted his hand again, my face screwing up into a snarl. "Stop touching me!"

"Yusuke, leave Kasumi-chan alone!" Keiko had piped up after my vehement refusal of his fingers on my person. I didn't like people to touch me without permission, the invasion of personal space made me nervous and defensive.

Keiko and Kazuma were the only people I let freely touch me. Hitomi had been the touchy feely type, but not me. I suppose that's why I liked martial arts so much; it gave me the ability to prevent people from entering my personal bubble when I didn't want them to – or kick them out if they did.

"Oh come on, I didn't do anything to her!" He scowled; obviously annoyed Keiko had interrupted his bullying.

"I just watched you poke her in the side Yusuke; do you think I'm blind?"

He smiled cheekily at his girlfriend, "Maybe."

If looks could kill, Keiko's would have at that moment. It was obvious she put up with this kind of crap from him often and she was just about sick of it. "Yusuke, you're such an idiot!"

"Yeah, you've told me that about twenty times today already Keiko, so who's the idiot now?"

I decided to add my two cents, "You obviously. If she's had to tell you that twenty times and it still hasn't gotten through your head, I think that makes you pretty stupid."

"Who asked you anyway?" He snapped.

I log cracking and falling further into the fire made me jump and I was momentarily distracted from Yusuke's heated stare as I watched with interest as Hiei got up fluidly from his chair and made his way to the fireplace. My eyes followed his every movement as he bent to gather a couple of small logs from a stack set on the hearth. He tossed them in, picking up a poker so he could push around the embers and catch the new wood on fire. The flames roared back to life, heating my back further and I sighed in content.

That little noise that left my mouth made his eyes shoot to mine, I had avoided direct eye contact up to that point, too uncomfortable around him to even dare look into those eyes made up of such an interestingly stunning color. Those pools of blood narrowed, lids dimming some of the brightness of the red. I drew in a sharp breath and averted my eyes much too late. I felt as if I had stared any longer I would have been drawn in and drowned by those eyes.

An odd, cynical chuckle left his throat making me want to look again but I resisted the urge. He made his way back to the armchair in his characteristic silence, slipping back into the seat as if he'd never left it. I was worked up by then, nervousness making me twitchy. I started twining and untwining my fingers in my lap, cracking my knuckles and not even noticing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shizuru lean over and plant another beer in front of me. I grabbed the can in appreciative elation, because it gave my fidgety hands something to do. The smooth metal was slick with droplets of cold water and it made a satisfying crack as I popped the tab.

"You like to drink Kasumi?" Yusuke asked from beside me.

I suppressed a grin at his question and then decided to lie, "Not really."

"Is that so? I seem to remember a certain party from several months ago that Kuwabara couldn't stop raving about for ages. I heard you got completely shitfaced." A smirk spread across his lips, Yusuke believing he had apparently revealed some major revelation.

Kazuma scratched the back of his head and chuckled half-heartedly, "Sorry Kasumi, but I had a lot of fun that night. I don't really get to brag about awesome parties and even if I do, Urameshi is usually right there too so I can't brag to him – the only person who matters." I rolled my eyes at the last part – Kazuma would probably never stop competing with Yusuke, even over insignificant crap.

"Ah, but you see, that one night does not prove if I like to drink or not. So it doesn't matter if you told him Kazuma." I said smugly.

"How doesn't it prove it?" Yusuke asked, folding his arms across his chest and staring at me from down his nose as if to intimidate me into answering how he wanted.

"Because, it was a special occasion and you don't know how much alcohol it takes to get me drunk. I could have had only a few drinks and been smashed for all you know."

Sometimes, my friend's blatant need for honesty made me want to strangle him, as Kazuma decided to butt-in. "Kasumi, you drank an entire bottle of sake to yourself that night along with a six pack of beer at the beginning of the party.

I blushed in embarrassment, burying my face in my hands and vigorously shaking my head. _Damn you, Kazuma!_

Yusuke's cheer of triumph made me flush further, it spread down my neck to my shirt line and I suddenly felt much too hot. I tried to keep most of myself covered if at all possible, an odd habit I had picked up from years of unnecessary self-consciousness and also the reason why I owned so many sweatshirts. Now, the police jacket I was wearing felt stifling and I pushed my anxiety aside so I could shrug it off and fold it neatly. It joined the crushed beer can beside me on the floor.

That left me in my plain dark blue t-shirt and black pants, my necklace being my only accessory. I realized belatedly that my glasses were also in place and crooked (I wonder how long they had been like that?) so I reached up to fix them. As soon as I took my hand away from my face Yusuke's shot forward to snatch the lenses from nose. He nimbly hopped up from his seat and ran a short distance away from the kotatsu, into a more open area of the living room.

My vision had blurred, so I couldn't see much of what was going on. I could see the Yusuke shaped blob waving his arm around madly in the middle of the room though. I easily surmised that he must be holding my glasses aloft, using them as some sort of hostage.

I heard Keiko release a short scream, her anger levels rising dangerously but I diffused the situation before it could get much further. Yusuke had finally pushed me into action and I wasn't going to let Keiko take the glory for putting him in his place.

"Keiko-chan, its fine, he's just messing with me. You know I can take care of myself." I smiled at her reassuringly before rising from the floor as gracefully as I could considering my sudden blindness.

"That isn't the point Kasumi; he's acting like a three year old!" She made sure to turn around on the couch and yell the last part in Yusuke's direction but he only laughed in her face, still waving my glasses around tauntingly.

I made my way around the table, but tripped over the pillow Yusuke had previously occupied. I stumbled and used the closest object to me to regain my balance. That object turned out to be the back of the armchair Hiei was sitting in, but I studiously ignored that fact even though I was close enough to touch him. I pushed off, letting my hand slide over the fabric as I went and my eyes flicked to the mysterious man only briefly. I could make out the general shape of his body and most of his features, which is how I realized he was staring directly at me. I was suddenly thankful for my blurry vision because if the animosity rolling off of him was anything to go by I would say he was glaring at me rather heatedly.

I turned away coolly, acting like I hadn't even noticed that he was looking at me, and then maneuvered around the rest of the furniture so I could meet Yusuke out in the middle of our living space. I could hear as our guests shifted in their seats to get a better view and all it took to take away my trepidation was to pretend I was in an arena. This was just like another competition and I had thousands of eyes on me then – this was nothing.

I chose to start off nicely, because I wasn't willing to make the first move and wouldn't touch him unless he came at me, but I was prepared for the worst.

"Can I have my glasses back please? I can't see very well without them." I said it as pleasantly as possible, but it came out forced and fake, even to me.

"Nope, I think I might keep them." Then I watched as he put them over the bridge of his nose and was only a little disappointed that I couldn't _actually see_ what he looked like in them. Even I thought my eyewear was pretty damn ugly, it must look even worse on him.

A moment later he managed to grate on my nerves again when he said, "Wow! You really are blind as a bat! I can barely see out of these!" Then he laughed like a maniac but didn't take my glasses off.

"I'm not going to ask nicely again, so just give them back." I demanded.

"Not unless you fight me." He sang out.

"I'm not going to fight you, it's not appropriate."

"I don't care that you're a pig, pretty sure I already went over that."

Kazuma let out a shriek of outrage when Yusuke once again called me by that offensive term, but I pivoted on my heel so I could face the opposite direction and tell him to "shut up". He was silenced almost immediately and I'm sure if I could see he would be sitting there with his mouth gaping open. I didn't wait to find out and turned back around to face my bully.

The second I completed my turn Yusuke charged me, I blocked the first punch and a pleased grin spread across my face. The idiot had been stupid enough to come at me first, now I could kick his ass.

He countered with an uppercut to my ribs; I stopped the hit by grabbing his forearm, taking less damage. I pushed his arms away from me, using his body weight against him so I could force him back. He slid a couple of feet across the floor, his socks not providing any traction. He compensated for the slide rather quickly, using the slippery floor to his advantage so he could skate back towards me.

_Shit, this kid is serious. I didn't actually want to fight him!_

I jumped out of the way as he tried to sweep my feet out from underneath me and then hopped back further so I was practically touching the couch. Thinking he had me cornered, Yusuke ran at me again but I jumped higher than before, twisting myself in midair so I could grasp the back of the couch with both hands and vault over it. Everyone sitting on its surface was smart enough to move out of the way, shooting to their feet. I landed in a crouch on top of the kotatsu, sending all of our drinks flying from the table. Beer sprayed across the floor, sparkly amber bubbles mocking me as I thought about the sticky mess I would have to clean up after this.

Yusuke had been stopped in his tracks behind the couch, stunned by my acrobatics. For the first time that evening Shuichi took the chance to speak with me, as he was standing beside the kotatsu, beer covering the hems of his pants. I didn't bother to look embarrassed, because if it weren't for Yusuke his clothes would never have been ruined. He only had his friend to blame.

"That was quite an advanced move you just pulled off, considering you led us to believe you were much less skilled." His voice held a hint displeasure, as if he were annoyed I had lied.

I kept my eyes on Yusuke, who was making his way over to me even as I replied to the redhead. "It would be a stupid mistake to give away any information on my abilities to strangers. I don't owe any of you an explanation."

"You are also quite smart, it would seem." He said, impressed by my answer.

I didn't get a chance to continue our little chat because Yusuke had finally recovered and made it to the table. He looked ready to knock me off it, the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out the best way to go about it. It could potentially become a free for all if we were to continue fighting here, so I jumped from the wooden surface, Yusuke laying chase as I ran back to the open area of the room. I felt like I was playing tag at this point and would need to get serious eventually, but I was still stuck on finding a way to prevent that.

He seemed to like to attack his opponents head on, so I whipped around just in time for him to try to tackle me, I didn't dodge, but instead let him try to grab me and caught him in a grapple instead. I laced the fingers of our left hands together, squeezing with all my might and applying pressure so I could force his arm down. My other hand had grabbed his upper shoulder and while I had him considerably distracted, I pushed down with all my might. I ended up going down with him, but successfully smashed his face into my floor.

I heard his nose crack and cringed in sympathy, but I didn't let up my hold. He didn't stay down for long but easily turned the tides on me, throwing me off his prone form and head-butting me in the chin while he was at it. My teeth clacked together painfully and I swear my brain rattled in my skull a bit. I gripped my head and put some distance between us, but never let my eyes leave him. Fighting with blurred vision was nothing to me. I had made sure to practice blindfolded over the years just in case something like this very scenario ever happened, where I had lost the privilege of my sight for one reason or another.

I'd had enough, I took a stance, spreading my legs far apart and bending at the knees so I was parallel with the floor. I held one of my hands defensively in front of me, my elbow bent and one held out towards Yusuke, both with open palms.

"Come if you dare, Urameshi." And I added a cliché 'come over here' finger motion just to piss him off.

I heard Kazuma breathe out an, "Oh shit," from somewhere across the room when he recognized the stance. He'd seen me compete enough to know what I was doing.

As I predicted Yusuke ran at me head on again, closing the short distance between us almost instantly. My first hit landed in his solar plexus, palm open and throwing him back with the force. I had knocked the wind out of him and as he bent to try and recover I used the opening to land a second hit on him. I approached with a balled up fist, hopping a short distance into the air and smashing it into the side of his head, sending him slamming into the hard wood below us.

I had used a little more force than I had needed to and I regretted it the second I heard his skull knock against the floor. I straightened from my stance, not realizing I had just made a huge mistake by letting my guard down. I assumed that last blow would have knocked him out and I went to check on him, so when he rocketed up off the floor and landed an uppercut straight to my jaw I hadn't seen it coming.

I don't know how it didn't break my teeth.

The force of the blow was so strong that my vision went completely black for at least thirty seconds. I had fallen to the ground, crumpled into a ball and spitting blood in great globs onto the wood. I had bitten my tongue so badly that no matter how many times I swallowed blood continued to fill my mouth.

_Shit! _I kept spitting, not giving a shit about the tiny pool of the red liquid I could feel leaking against my cheek.

"Yusuke, that's enough!" I heard Keiko scream fiercely, but I wasn't done yet. Bleeding tongue aside, he hadn't hurt me too badly.

I rolled onto my back so I could perform a Kip-up to get back onto my feet, many years of practicing the move making it fluid and perfect. Yusuke took a second to look impressed but then we were at it again. I blocked another hit aimed for my stomach and went to sweep his legs out from under him. He had expected that, so he hopped over them and before he touched the ground, swung out a leg to kick me in the side. I used my forearm to block it, grabbing his shinbone and holding his leg aloft.

Before he could break my hold, my other arm shot out and punched him straight in the testicles. I knew the fight was over then and there – I also knew Yusuke would hate me forever now, but it was totally worth it.

I let his leg go so he could fall to, and curl up on, the floor in agony, making an ungodly noise that was much too high to be coming out of a man's mouth. Tears streamed from his eyes and his hands clasped his family jewels desperately as he attempted to recover. I walked to him so I could stand over his prone form, a smug grin stretching my lips.

I wanted to laugh at him; I really did, but that unnatural blue light had entered his eyes again, even as I watched tears pool in them and spill down his cheeks. He was undeniably pissed off, his eyes set into a glare that could melt your face off if you let it. It froze me to the spot, my mouth open in what would have been a mocking chuckle, but it had caught in my throat. A chill ran down my spine and my brain screamed at me that I was in danger, but I didn't heed the warning in time.

Yusuke's hand shot out and grabbed my right ankle, pulling me with more force than I thought he could produce in his current situation, and I fell backwards, the back of my head smashing into the floor. It bounced, hitting twice and making me cry out in pain.

I had no chance to recover as he pulled again, dragging me across the wood until he could climb over me and straddle my waist. His fist moved faster than I could see, smashing me hard in the cheek and cutting it open. The second punch I only just barely blocked with the palm of my hand, but the third and final one broke my nose, spraying blood over my mouth and cheeks. I coughed as I choked on the fresh blood that started to fill my mouth along with the old from my tongue.

There would have been a fourth, maybe a fifth or more if Hiei hadn't somehow appeared next to us and pulled Yusuke off of me with ease. The black haired man struggled, his anger blinding him to the pain in his genitals and wishing only to come at me again but Hiei would have none of it. He held on like it was nothing, tossing the other man behind him and whirling around so he could stand in front of my body and bar Yusuke from coming near me.

I hadn't noticed before, but _everyone_ had moved not just Hiei. Shuichi was to my left; I could see his sock clad feet and stained pants from my vantage point curled up on the floor. Kazuma and Keiko were behind me, one of them had put their hands on my back and the other in my hair. I assumed the one peeling my hair away from the blood on my face so they could assess the wounds was Keiko, the hands felt smaller. Botan had come over to grab Yusuke by one of his arms, trying to calm him down but only succeeding in getting him to sit down in one of the arm chairs.

With Yusuke out of the way and being tended to, Keiko ran off to get a first aid kit but the blow I had just taken to my pride wouldn't allow her to clean my wounds. Before she could come back, I rose from the floor with labored breaths, unable to breathe out of my nose and in more pain than I had thought possible from such a short fight.

"Kasumi, what are you doing?! You're bleeding everywhere; we need to fix you up!" Kazuma yelped, scrambling to try and get me to sit back down, but I shrugged him off angrily.

I turned and snarled at anyone who cared to listen, "I will fucking fix myself and I suggest you all stay the hell away from me for the rest of the night."

With that I stalked off to the bathroom so I could inspect the damage, not noticing as I tracked blood with me and only caring about getting into the shower and curing the stiffness in my muscles. I made sure to stop and grab my discarded glasses, which had landed rather harshly on the floor sometime during the fight, and I took notice of the crack travelling all the way through the right lens. With a look of disdain, I let them hang from my fingers in a limp hand as I reached the darkened wash room. I knew I would have to wear my contacts until I could get a new pair and the thought caused a well of disgust to travel up from my belly as I tossed them onto the counter surrounding the bathroom sink.

I slammed and locked the door, stopping to take a good long look at myself in the mirror. My nose was a bit off center, bloodied, and purpled and with a tiny hoarse scream I righted it by pinching it with my forefinger and thumb. I heard a knock on the door, but ignored it.

I lifted my chin to see a large purple bruise already starting to form there and stuck my tongue out to see rows of still bleeding teeth marks. I spit into the sink, little red droplets marring the pristine white of the ceramic and then turned my cheek to check the cut there. It wasn't too deep and had already started to clot, but there was a reddish purple bruise formed there already and the inside of my cheek had a hole where I had bitten it almost clean through.

I grimaced at the sight of my face, as no amount of make-up would _ever _cover this up, and then winced as it caused a shock of pain to travel through my skull.

"Kasumi?" A muffled call came from behind the door – Kazuma this time.

I twisted the hot water tap so it would come spraying out of the hand held shower head hanging on the wall and be hot by the time I removed my clothes. I stripped, dumping my clothes into a laundry basket I had placed in the cubby hole in the bottom of the tiny bathroom closet.

I dragged a white plastic stool over to the shower nozzle and pulled it from the wall. I sat and just held the thing aloft so it would spray down over my whole body, wetting my hair and washing away the blood in a big red whirlpool down the drain.

I heard Kazuma sigh beyond the door and then his heavy footsteps as he walked away. Loud shouts sounded a moment later, but the rushing water drained out the actual words so I decided it was best to pretend I couldn't hear it at all.

I directed the sprayer around my body, taking extra care around my wounds and face. When I was satisfied with the amount of blood I had managed to wash off, I reached behind me to my little purple shower caddy and pulled out some body wash. I hung up the shower head so I could pour some into the palm of my hand. I knew it was going to sting something awful, but I washed every inch of myself with it anyway, including my face. I picked the nozzle back up again, rinsing all the soap off and using it so I could take a gulp of water and swish it around my mouth.

The metallic tang of my blood was still present even after I spit the water out and I knew my tongue wasn't done bleeding yet. I wasn't worried though as it had slowed significantly since when I first bit it.

I contemplated soaking in the bath, but knew I would only end up sitting in pink stained water and the thought was unappetizing, so I compromised by just turning the heat up on the shower. I hung it on the wall and then dragged my stool closer so I could sit under the stream.

I didn't move for a long time. Didn't think, didn't feel. All I did was allow the water to rush over me. I slipped into a meditative state, letting my mind become empty, letting my emotions go and just being.

**. . .**

I didn't wake up until the water had turned ice cold and shocked me out of it. I immediately shut it off, shivers running up and down my spine and making goose-bumps rise up over my skin. I padded out from the tiled off section of the bathroom, snatched my glasses off the side of the sink so I could gently place them over my nose, grabbed a towel from the closet and then slowly opened the door so I could peek out the crack.

I hadn't thought to grab clothes considering what had happened and would now have to either ask Keiko to go get me some or walk out in just my towel.

The living room lights had been shut off and the fire place remained burning brightly, illuminating the room in a flickering orange glow. An argument could be heard coming from the direction of Keiko's bedroom and it didn't take a genius to figure out she was having it out with Yusuke.

I surveyed the rest of the room and didn't see the presence of anyone else, meaning they had all left after this little escapade and for that I was thankful. There was no need for me to embarrass myself further.

Taking a chance, I slipped out of the bathroom quietly and made to tiptoe to my own room, but a deep voice stopped me in my tracks.

"I see you're alive." He sounded almost disappointed as if he were hoping something might have happened to me while in the shower.

I stiffened, completely forgetting about my state of undress when I heard Hiei's voice ring out from the dark. I don't know how I hadn't seen him before but he had moved from the armchair to sit in one of the windows that were almost directly next to the fire place, my vision of him fractured thanks to the break in my lens. The sill on the window was certainly large enough to fit a person, but he was the last I had ever expected to see sitting in such a place.

It had started to rain at some point, the lights of the city making the streams of water running down the glass glow different colors and causing the glossy surface of Hiei's eyes to flicker mesmerizingly. I ended up staring, but when his eyes never left mine I took the offering greedily, soaking up as much of his odd visage as I could.

_Why is he still here? _I thought and my confusion must have been apparent, because he answered my unspoken question a moment later.

"I remained here to keep an eye on the fire, the rest have gone off upstairs or home."

"Upstairs?" I questioned. I knew Keiko and Yusuke were up there…but why would the others want to witness the obvious blow out occurring on the second floor?

His eyes narrowed in distaste, but he continued to answer me. "Yes. Kuwabara and Shuichi are in your quarters and the older Kuwabara as well as Botan have returned to their homes."

_Seriously, who uses the word 'quarters' when referring to a bedroom in this day and age? This guy is weird. _Though not the most important thing to be worrying about at that moment, the thought came unbidden and if my face didn't still hurt like a bitch I might have laughed a little.

Then I thought about the rest of what he had said. "Wait, why are they in _my room_?" I didn't particularly want two boys picking through my stuff, thank you very much.

"They believe you need medical attention." He didn't elaborate further and deemed the conversation over, if him turning back to stare out the window was any indication.

At that point I conveniently remembered the fact I was practically nude and slapped a hand to my forehead at my own cluelessness. I ducked my head, my face heating up in a bright scarlet flush. The damage had already been done however, as I had been standing here a good five minutes in my fluffy red towel. Hiei hadn't said a word and I wondered if it was because he was trying to be a gentleman or if he just didn't care.

Lost in my inner turmoil I couldn't help releasing a yelp of shock when a tanned hand, a jacket clutched in its fist, appeared before my eyes seemingly out of nowhere. My stunned eyes shot to the hand's owner to discover Hiei with his arm held out and my police jacket in its possession.

My brows furrowed in confusion and then it dawned on me. _He's trying to help me. _

I reached out and tentatively took the article of clothing from his grasp. He let his arm drop afterwards and then just stood there. He kept his line of sight respectfully trained off to the side somewhere over my shoulder. This sudden odd change in behavior had me nervous and I had been anxious as it was all night. My nerves completely shot at that point, I gave up on giving a shit.

I let the towel drop from around me, it curled up around my feet on the floor and I saw his eyes widen just the tiniest bit, giving him away and telling me he was still paying attention out of the corner of his eye. I pulled the jacket over me, it was just long enough to cover my ass down to the final curve where my backside connected to my thighs. It would be nigh impossible, even if I kept ramrod straight, to prevent my butt from flashing someone. As soon as I moved, I knew the jacket would ride up but I would have to make do.

"Thank you." I whispered. I saw him nod in answer and then left him, walking towards the stairs. I didn't turn around to look at him again until I had reached the landing. I stopped at the railing and searched for him within the fading light of the fire. He was back in the window, but the tilt of his head and position of his eyes reflected off the glass showed me was still watching – _studying_, was more like.

I turned away quickly and proceeded to my room. I stopped to take a deep breath, my hand on the knob and then twisted. I let it fall open silently and stuck my head around the door. I was greeted by a smiling Shuichi and a worried looking Kazuma.

Kazuma was sitting on the end of my bed; he had placed my tiny television/VHS player combo on top of the one bookcase I owned, which sat directly in front of my new full size mattress – there was some old action movie playing, but no one paid it any attention. The bookcase itself remained empty otherwise, because I had been unable to unpack most of my belongings. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, it would seem.

Shuichi sat in the armchair he had placed by the one window in my room hours earlier, legs crossed and looking like the epitome of a gentleman.

How in _seven hells _was I going to get to my clothes without one of them seeing something I'd rather they didn't. Kazuma had gotten up from the bed, wondering why I hadn't come through the door yet I'm sure, so I bit the bullet and blurted, "I need you both to close your eyes!"

Kazuma stopped midstride, bewilderment clear on his face. "Why?"

"Just do it and don't open them until I tell you to."

He made a little 'Oh' shape with his mouth as it dawned him why I needed him to do what I asked, realizing I wasn't decent for the company of men. So he dutifully shut his eyes and then turned around for good measure. Kurama chuckled lightly in the corner but obeyed my command as well, though he didn't turn around like Kazuma.

I crept onto the tatami mats my bedroom floor consisted of, sliding through the doorway sideways in an attempt to keep any unseemly parts of me hidden, and then tip-toed over to my open closet. Just as I dropped the jacket from around my shoulders I heard Kazuma screech behind me and I whipped around to see him with his arm stretched out, pointing an accusing finger towards me.

"Wasn't Hiei downstairs?!" He bellowed, voice a higher pitch than was necessary.

"Kazuma, turn around, for God sakes!" He had the decency to blush and look ashamed of himself, before swiftly turning on his heel. He snatched a pillow off my bed (I noticed someone had been kind enough to make it for me and by how neat it looked I would bet it had been Shuichi) and buried his face into it.

"I'm so sorry Kasumi!"

"It's alright, just don't do it again." I proceeded to pull clothes out of the boxes I had stacked in the closet, hunting for a pair that would be suitable to sleep in. I finally found an old set of Gi and took the loose black pants to wear along with a loose grey shirt. That was when I remembered what Kazuma had been yelling about in the first place.

"Oh yeah," I said, as I almost fell forward trying to pull my pants up over my legs, "Hiei _was_ downstairs."

Kazuma's head shot out of the pillow, but he didn't make the mistake of turning around a second time. Not that it mattered; I had just slipped my shirt over my head.

Fully clothed I walked over to Kazuma and tapped him on the back, "It's okay to turn around now." I said with a smile that hurt my cheek.

As soon as the words left my lips he spun around and gripped me by my shoulders, intense soft brown eyes staring straight into my soul. I screwed up my face, rearing back away from him and putting a hand to his chest to try to push him off. What the hell was his problem all of a sudden?

"Did he see anything?" He finally asked, eyes still boring into me, searching for an answer like his life depended on it.

It took me a minute to remember what it was he meant but when I did, I just laughed in his face. "What are you jealous or something?" I said, teasing.

His mouth dropped open and a blush bled into the skin of cheeks, but he made a valiant recovery and instead just looked a bit peeved now. "No! But if he saw you naked I'm going to kick his scrawny ass!"

"Now, now Kuwabara, I'm sure Hiei didn't see anything." Shuichi intervened, amusement obvious in his tone of voice. "And even if he did, he's not exactly…_interested _in that sort of thing, now is he."

Kazuma thought on that a moment, I could tell because his 'thinking' face consisted of him screwing up his upper lip and drawing his eyebrows down over his eyes. He refuted Shuichi's logic a moment later with some of his own. "Nah, you might be right in most things man, but Hiei's still a dude even if he's a freakin' weird one."

He let my shoulders go so he could turn and converse with his friend and I sighed in relief. I crawled into my bed, sliding underneath the crisp sheets, a feeling of contentment washing over me. I sat with my back against the headboard and waited for my friend to pay attention to me again.

"I disagree Kazuma; I do not believe Hiei would act so ungentlemanly."

"Yeah well, I know you know him a lot better than the rest of us do, beside maybe Urameshi, but Kasumi is hot."

I sputtered indignantly from the bed, wishing I had something nearby to throw at Kazuma and a second later (when a shifty little grin moved the corners of his lips skyward) that wish turned into a need for two items, so I could throw something at both my friend and the fiery redhead in the armchair.

Kazuma turned to me all apologetic, a nervous smile on his lips and a hand scratching the back of his head. All his personal signs of nervousness, embarrassment, guilt, or shame and I had learned to read each one for what it was – this time it was embarrassment, but it was unapologetic, even with his best efforts for it to be so.

"What, it's true!" He shouted; the new blush on his cheeks deepening.

"Says the guy who clearly stated earlier that he would never sleep with me." I was only picking on him, but I made a good show out of being offended.

"Yeah, but only because it would be weird and I'm completely devoted to someone else!" He was being serious, not realizing I was only kidding and so I decided to keep my little charade going.

I flipped a wet lock of hair over my shoulder and stuck my nose in the air, "Not like you would have a chance anyway – not with someone as…_hot_ as me." I winked at him, puckering my lips up and giving him a kissy face.

"Shut the hell up Kasumi, you're such an asshole." He shook his head, finally figuring out I was only playing with him.

I cackled rather evilly but my fun was ruined much too quickly when my broken nose scrunched up and shot spikes of pain through my head. "Ouch!" I touched the tender spot carefully, prodding at it and frowning when I discovered it was just as large as it was before I got into the shower, if not more so.

Kazuma had the gall to laugh at me now. "Serves you right, your nose looks like a potato!"

I glared at him, but the effect was ruined thanks to my bruised face and he only waved me off so he could sit on the end of the bed. "So Kasumi, I'm gonna get you some ice to put on that giant blob you call a nose – " I went to kick him from under the blankets but it slowed my movements and he was able to sidle over and out of reach.

"And Shuichi here will help clean you up." I rolled my eyes, not finding the help at all necessary but I knew Kazuma would insist on it so arguing would be a pointless waste of breath.

He left, presumably to get the ice, and Shuichi took over his spot. "It seems as if you did a fairly good job cleaning the wounds yourself, but would you mind if I took a look at them?"

I shook my head no, telling him I wouldn't mind and he shifted so he was on the side of the bed and to my left. I tried to believe his position was meant just to be friendly, but when his hands reached over to gently turn my head slowly from side to side, a blush heated its way through me anyway.

His skin was smooth, his hands well taken care of and nicer than any set of hands I'd ever seen. His touch was light and not at all romantic, so before I could shame myself further I fought back the odd sensations Shuichi's fingers caused to rise in me. In doing so, I was only slightly disappointed when he broke the contact.

"They are going to be quite painful for a few days yet and the bruising is extensive, but with time everything shall fade and go back to normal. You did a nice job setting your nose as well." He complimented and as was all too common for me lately: I acted like a shy little school and flushed bright red.

He leaned over to retrieve something from my bedside table, I hadn't noticed before but an array of medical supplies was neatly placed upon it, from disinfectant to bandages of all sizes. Shuichi grabbed the bottle of disinfectant, several cotton balls, and an ointment.

"I do not think you will need any stiches or bandages, but I would like to make sure the cuts on your face do not get infected. This will sting a bit, but please bear with me."

I was sorely tempted to tell him I could do this myself, but I allowed his long tapered fingers to swish the soft cotton around my face, not even grimacing when I felt the sting of the alcohol. He cleaned each cut meticulously, being gentle but making sure he had cleaned any and all debris from the wounds. Just as he finished, Kazuma entered my bedroom again, with ice wrapped in a cloth. He watched silently as Shuichi took another cotton ball and I leaned forward a bit so he would have better access to smear the antibiotic ointment on my cuts. Finished, he smiled at me once again; his teeth perfectly straight and almost a blinding shade of white and then threw out the used cotton in the tiny trashcan I kept semi-hidden next to my nightstand.

Kazuma tossed me the ice and I gratefully placed it over my throbbing nose as he climbed into the bed beside me, crawling under the covers fully clothed and grabbing the remote to my TV off the other nightstand. Shuichi rose an eyebrow at his actions but I just shrugged at him – this was something Kazuma and I did, who cares if it was weird.

Shuichi headed for the door and before he could leave I remembered my manners, "Minamino-san, thank you for your help. It was very nice to meet you."

He nodded, "It was nice to meet you as well and it was absolutely no problem. I'm sorry that our friend did such a thing to you. We should have stopped it before it even began."

"No, it was my own fault and if I had taken him seriously to begin with I probably wouldn't look like this." I waved a hand over my face, like it was some prize in a game show, and he chuckled softly.

"Yes, well while that may be the case, I will still apologize on his behalf. I doubt he will do it himself."

"Don't apologize for that asshole Shuichi, he doesn't deserve the kindness." Kazuma growled beside me, punching the buttons on the remote a little harder than was really necessary. He started to rewind whatever movie he had put in and that's when I knew he would be spending the night in here with me.

Sharing a bed with Kazuma was no big deal…at least not in the normal sense. The only reason I dreaded it at all was because he was a notorious blanket and bed hog. More than likely I would wake up in the wee hours of the morning devoid of warmth and dangerously close to falling out of the bed. I fell back into my pillows, the ice lying forgotten in the palm of my hand and groaned.

Then I thought of something, something much worse than waking up with no covers and one of the horrors of many girls across the world. I shot up in the bed with a yelp, eyes wide and panicked. The two boys stared at me in bewilderment, confounded by my sudden change in behavior, but I just turned to Kazuma with a pout that could put a toddler to shame and said, "I have a date this weekend!"

His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion but Shuichi laughed from across the room. How the _hell_ am I supposed to go on a date when I looked like I had been used as a human punching bag?

**. . .**

**A/N: **Okay, so the fight scene in here is terrible, but I am trying to practice and get better so later on they won't be as bad. Yusuke is a dick, as you all know and this won't be the last time him and Kasumi fight. He is obviously holding back, no Reiki or anything, because Kasumi is a weak little human haha. Oh and I wanted to explain a Kip-up! It's a classic move you see in a lot of Kung-fu movies, where a fighter lands on their back but uses their arms by bending them and kind of rolling into a ball so you can launch yourself up back onto your legs. You can do it without hands too, but takes a lot more strength and flexibility. It's kinda hard to explain, but if you google it and look at the images you will know exactly what I'm talking about!

Hope this chapter was okay, I'm not exactly happy with it, but I don't hate it either. Let me know what you think! Thanks!


	5. I'm Not Crazy

**A/N: **Hello! I've been a busy bee lately; I even managed to update Atlas! That story seems to get most of the attention even though I think it's pretty bad, but it's my fuck around story (as in I'm gunna do whatever the fuck I want in it and I don't care what anyone thinks). Some reviews for this one would be awesome though, but I'm not one to beg. Hope everyone likes this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, which is very depressing. I'm not making any money by writing this.

**Warnings: **Foul language, violence, badly written fight scenes, sexual themes, adult situations, general fuckery, etc.

**. . .**

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're falling? It could be anywhere – down stairs, a chasm, a ledge, or off a building. It always ends the same though, doesn't it? You wake up with your heart in your throat and on the floor, or at least on the verge of falling out of bed.

I have had those kinds of dreams on multiple occasions, mostly when I was younger and had a tendency to sleep violently. This time though…it was different.

I was fighting, I had a katana in my hand made of a gorgeous ruby colored metal – it glowed like fire in the setting sun. I cut through many an enemy, all some kind of creature with black eyes, misshapen features and skin a sickly green. Even as I kill off several more, a great surge of them burst forth, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

I back away, the ruddy dust covered stone beneath my feet kicking up dirt with every step. I cut through as many as I can, but still they come forward and still I am forced to retreat. My feet stop, one of them hitting empty space behind me and my dream-self knows I have reached some kind of edge. Sounds of shouting come to my ears – my comrades, my friends.

It's hopeless; I know I am going to fall, that I will be forced off the precipice I'm currently standing before. I stab another creature through the chest, wrenching my sword up and out, essentially cutting it in half. The body falls forward and over the ledge but I never look back, if I did it would be the end of me.

The shouting is coming closer, I can hear _his _voice calling my name – it sounds desperate and very unlike the strong man I know. I am causing him fear and for a moment I feel guilty but purge it a second later as the battle rages on. I kick back an advancing monster, being careful that the force of the blow won't send me flying backwards. My red sword slices through another's flesh, rending the thing asunder.

Thunder booms above in that oddly colored red and purple sky and seconds later the heavens start to cry. The rain soaks me through and makes the ground muddy and slick. The downpour is so heavy I am unable to see and I start swinging my sword wildly, hoping to hit those hideous creatures who are still refusing to stop.

Unexpectedly the sword hits something solid, but when I go to wrench it back out and swing again it is stuck. It is pulled from my grasp instead, knocking me off balance and I am unable to regain my footing thanks to the sopping ground beneath my feet. I slide and slip over the edge.

My fingers manage to dig into the damp earth but water is rushing over the ledge with me and soon enough my hold is loosened. My heart is racing and I'm trying to breath but my face is in the mud and its choking me and blinding me at the same time. I slip again and I know this time I won't have anything to hold onto.

I'm falling and I know that the chasm is so deep that my body will be nothing but a pancake once I hit bottom. I close my eyes and embrace what is to come, the rush of the wind and the feel of the rain pelting me.

But that rush never comes. A tan hand shoots out and grasps my own in the nick of time; I swing, my body slamming into the rocky side of the giant maw I had previously been falling into. The hand tightens but thanks to the rain and the slippery mud I have coating every inch of me he is unable to gain a better grip.

My hand starts to slide out of his grasp.

A head and shoulders appears over the ledge. He's lying down in the mud and trying to reach me with his other arm but I see it has been badly cut and blood is dripping down it and mingling with the rain pelting my face.

I can't help the whimsical smile that appears a moment later when I see his hair. Normally it defies logic, standing on end and so spikey it looks like it is trying to touch the sky. Now his hair lays in wet waves, almost long enough to touch the tops of his shoulders, but not quite.

_Kami, he's so gorgeous_, is all I can think as I stare up at him in awe.

He opens his mouth to speak, the thunder and rain make it almost impossible to hear and I am also momentarily distracted as droplets of water run over his lips tantalizingly, but I catch the tail end of what he's saying. "Don't die on me, Kasumi."

My hand slips again and he finally manages to get his other hand around my arm, but it doesn't have enough strength left in it to pull me up. If this keeps going on I may very well bring him down with me. The thought was enough to cause a shock of pain to travel through my heart and so I tug my hand.

His blood colored eyes tell me he knows what I'm doing, he sees the reason and yet is unwilling to accept it. He grips harder, but it's no use. I tug again and fall free of the wounded arm. He's barely hanging onto the fingers of my other hand and I can see anger laced panic in those eyes now, but I keep pulling.

As my hand falls free and my body starts to plummet, I look up at him one last time and mouth the words – _I love you._ He's shocked and sad, I can see it, but I close my eyes so I won't have to feel guilty as I lay dying at the bottom of the basin. It was for his own good, I could never live with myself if I had killed him too.

Right before I wake up I feel a pair of arms envelope me – holding me close and the wind rushing by us making it impossible to speak.

I don't open my eyes, there's no need to. I know who it is…and my heart breaks.

**. . .**

The way I awoke from my dream was all at once instantaneous and disorienting. I was on the very edge of my bed and my eyes had shot open wide. My heart beat fiercely in my chest, fueled by fear. My sudden awakening caused me to only remember bits and pieces of the dream I had been having, but I could easily recall the feeling of falling. I took a moment to just breathe and listen to Kazuma's obnoxious snores beside me. During that time I tried to recall the dream I had been having, something in the back of my mind telling me it was important, but no matter how much I dug through my memory I could only pull up that unmistakable feel of plummeting to my death.

I chalked it up to being just that, a dream of falling, and then rolled out of bed as quietly as I could. Kazuma was a fairly heavy sleeper, so he never even noticed as I gathered together some clothing and snuck out to go take a shower. I was covered in a cold sweat and the need to wash it away was undeniable.

As I crept down the stairs passed Keiko's room, I could see Yusuke passed out on our couch. He had no blanket or pillow to speak of and the fire from last night had burned to nothing but ash. Keiko must have kicked him out of her room at some point, probably fed up with his shit.

I retreated back to my room, gently tugged the throw off the end of my bed so as not to disturb my friend, and then headed back for the living room. I reached the side of the couch and threw the blanket over Yusuke, making sure it fluttered over his body silently and trying my utmost best not to wake him up. If he caught me who knows what he would do.

Mission successful, as he didn't even stir when the blanket fell over him like a cloud, I turned to continue my previous venture to the bathroom. As I reached the door I paused because a voice behind me had shocked me into stillness.

"Thanks, Kasumi…" Apparently I hadn't been as quiet as I thought.

I also realized that would be the closest I would ever receive for an apology concerning last night. I didn't reply to him, I just softly shut the bathroom door and leaned against it. I had no reason to hold a grudge against Yusuke, it had been my own fault after all and I was woman enough to admit that.

Honestly, I kind of liked him. He was crass and pigheaded, but he had good inside him and I could see it. There was something off about him though – something I just couldn't let go. That eerie light in Yusuke's eyes came to mind and I knew I would have to have a long talk with Keiko very soon. Perhaps even Kazuma, if I could get him to sit still long enough. They were hiding things from me and I couldn't just let that slide. Pretending not to notice something was never a strong suit of mine.

I forgot about Yusuke for now in favor of getting ready for the day. I spent minimal time in the mirror so I could avoid seeing the state of my face – just by how it felt I could tell it was a hideous mess. After wailing to Kazuma about my date on Saturday and trying to think of ways to explain the numerous bruises as well as my broken nose to Ren, I settled on not caring. Maybe if he saw me like this he would think twice about asking me out again.

I already knew tomorrow would be spread around the precinct by Sunday morning and I was positive I would get an infinite amount of jokes at my expense. Precinct 101 was male dominated, with me and one other woman being the only females there. Detective Miyasaki Makoto would never have a joke made at her expense, she had all the men in the precinct scared of her. I couldn't blame them – she scared me too.

She was a beast of a woman, standing at an unusual (for a woman of Japanese descent) five foot and ten inches, and she wore combat boots with knives imbedded inside them. All she had to do was click her heels together to get them to deploy from the tips of her boots and from the rumors I've heard, she made the damn shoes herself.

Along with her police issued Glock, Makoto also carried an insane amount of throwing knives on her person and one large buck knife she kept out in the open and sheathed on her belt. During my training at the academy she came once as a guest instructor to show us how to use different types of weapons. Her specialty is sniping, her longest recorded shot being over fifteen hundred meters, and so she had brought sniper rifles, crossbows, and throwing knives.

Being beginners, many of my classmates failed miserably. I mastered throwing knives when I was young, so it was child's play for me, but the rifle and crossbow was a whole different story. I didn't even really understand when I would ever use this as a cop but Miyasaki Makoto's presence was demanding and unrelenting, she pushed us all to our limits that day. I also believe it was when my hatred of Ren really first started.

He had done better in Makoto's single class than any of us, mastering the crossbow and sniper rifle with ease. The reason he had so much sway in the precinct was because of this one stupid day. Makoto had praised him…and now, she got him whatever he wanted. Her star pupil, you could say.

I sneered as jealousy reared its ugly head. I tried not to be, but I would never get anywhere with Hitomi's case until I could start investigating things on my own. Ren could do all that and more, but he never let me benefit from any of his special privileges. Thoughts of that bastard fueled my vigorous scrubbing as I practically chaffed my skin off during my shower and the stinging pain of the hot water afterwards had me throwing my loofa across the room.

I sunk into my bath, slopping water over the side, and tried to forget about Ren. It was particularly hard considering I had a date with him the very next day. I contemplated calling him and telling him I had suddenly become ill and wouldn't be able to make it, but I knew I would never hear the end of it later if I did that. It was best to just keep my word and show up like I had promised. It also helped that I was slightly interested in what his end game was. Why had he asked me out in the first place?

As far as I could tell he had never shown any romantic interest in me…than again…there was that one time.

The thought of last Christmas had my face heating up. I was still in the academy at the time but they had thrown a raucous party for us all a few days before the actual holiday and our Captain had decided to strategically place mistletoe in various places around the compound. I was unfortunate enough to get cornered under one with Ren and there had been too many witnesses to try and form an escape. We'd kissed, if only briefly, to appease the crowd of classmates who had stood by and egged us on.

It had been the fastest and least passionate kiss of my life but the memory of Ren's flushed face is what took the cake. Like some little embarrassed school boy he had blushed and then gone running off (not really running, more like brisk walking) so he wouldn't have to face me in the aftermath, while I stood there wiping my mouth and spitting as if he had left behind something vile.

We had jabs thrown at us for months after that little display, but Ren and I never spoke of it to each other, choosing to just ignore it instead. In retrospect that hadn't been very mature of us, so now I was left with a feeling of regret for not doing so. I don't know where tomorrow will lead and the unknown aspect of it had me feeling anxious.

_Maybe I should call it off…_

No sooner had the thought entered my mind and I pushed it away. My stubborn side, as well as my curiosity, was too strong to run away like some coward. I wanted to find out what Ren wanted from me and the only way I would get that information is by going on this supposed date.

…As unappealing as that sounded.

I climbed out of the tub, retrieved a towel from the closet and dried myself off. Before dressing, I brushed my teeth, put in my contacts (thanks to my glasses being out of commission), and ran a wide toothed comb through my wet hair. I pulled it all to one side, so it hung over my shoulder and out of the way, allowing it to air dry.

I applied no make-up, there was no point. I took one look at myself and knew that my face would look hideous, with or without the beauty products' help. I poked and prodded at my face, wincing every time I jabbed a bruise. All I could do was put some ice on it and maybe a little ointment for the cuts. The stiffness in my muscles was at least better after my bath, which I was thankful for. I still had a lot of work ahead of me today.

I dressed silently, pulling on jeans and a tight black tank top. Over that was a customary hoodie, also black and fitted. The final piece to my attire was a pair of white socks, which I slipped over my feet one after the other, by hopping on one leg.

I slipped out the door, allowing the steam that had built up in the tiny room to be released into open air and then shuffling off to go put on a pot of coffee. I discovered a rather harassed looking Keiko sitting sleepily at the table outside the kitchen door and raised an eyebrow at her in question, but she motioned to her mug of coffee and said I should go get some first.

I agreed, thankful she had already made it, and grabbed a mug from the cupboard Keiko had stored them away in just yesterday and poured a generous helping of the dark beverage into it. Instinctually, I had picked up my favorite mug. It was handmade ceramic, with a pretty pure white glaze on the outside, sporting a dainty handle only big enough to fit a few fingers through. On the inside of the mug, it was glazed a wonderful robin's egg blue and had a swirled design starting from the bottom of the cup and spiraling upward towards the brim. If you looked closely enough, on the very top of the handle, flattened for thumb placement, there was a little heart etched there and stained red.

The simplicity of the cup is what had drawn me in, but its inner beauty is what made me buy it. It had been a tiny Christmas gift that I had given to myself. In fear it would be broken, I never let anyone else use it. It was one of a kind, bought in a little shop in downtown Tokyo that had gone out of business more than two years ago. I don't really understand why I treasure it so, but it is the small comforts in life that keep me going.

I take my perfectly black cup of coffee out to the table and sit with Keiko. Yusuke is still across the room on the couch, either back to sleep or pretending to be, I couldn't really tell. It was still within the wee hours of the morning, if the pinks in the sky were anything to go by. The sun was just starting to wake up for the day itself.

I took a long sip of my coffee, savoring the warmth it provided before swallowing it. Keiko cleared he throat across the table, so I brought my knees up into the chair so I could rest my arms upon them, the mug clasped tightly in both my hands. I gave her my full attention, hoping she would spill something about the strangeness of her friends. Instead I noticed she looked to be on the verge of tears and I was suddenly uncomfortable. I didn't handle crying too well, even if it was one of my best friends.

To my immense relief they never spilled over and Keiko wiped at her face angrily, smearing the liquid around and then taking an awkward sip of her drink. She cleared her throat once more and finally managed to choke out a few words. "I'm sorry about Yusuke."

I didn't smile; I just shrugged nonchalantly, trying to convey that it no longer mattered. After all, the fight wasn't what I was worried about anymore.

"My face will heal," I reply.

"That is not the point, Kasumi."

"Keiko, it doesn't matter what you think of last night. It was between me and Yusuke. I'm already over it, you should be too."

Anger flashed in her eyes, taking my lack of concern the wrong way and misunderstanding why I couldn't care less about what had happened. I had been in plenty of fights before – this one wouldn't be my last. No point in dwelling on a loss. All you can do is learn from it and that is what I planned to do.

"This is something we should talk about." She hissed, trying to keep her voice down but still letting me know how serious she thought the situation was.

"No, Keiko, what we need to talk about is the strangeness of your friends."

She faltered, shock blossoming over her face before carefully controlling it and morphing it into a look of confusion. But I had seen and would no longer be fooled.

"I do not understand what you mean." She tried to sound truthful, allowing that fake confusion to leak into her words, but I wasn't stupid.

"My vision might not be perfect but I'm not that blind!" I snap and before she can speak I continue, "Hiei-san's red irises, Shuichi-san's odd almost animalistic aura, that blue light that bloomed in Yusuke's eyes, and the stench of death surrounding Botan-san. I'm not a fool Keiko; I can see many things others overlook."

I watched her jaw set, tightly snapping her lips closed and refusing to speak. Her eyes had sunk into a shrewd stare, almost hostile in nature and this frightened me a little. That look wasn't one the Keiko I knew would wear.

I barreled on, not caring that she was obviously uncomfortable. "Not to mention I can tell that both you and Kazuma are hiding something, it's clear as day. Next time you want to lie to me, try not to be so obvious about it." I say cruelly, my lips curling up into a sneer.

I hated being played with. I would have the truth out of her by the end of today, by any means necessary. Luckily for her, she was saved by Kazuma's untimely arrival as we heard him come stumbling out of my bedroom, dragging his heavy feet across the floor and stomping his way down the stairs. The noise he managed to generate had Yusuke sitting up on the couch and rubbing the sleep form his eyes.

I silently curse to myself, because I knew with Yusuke awake I wasn't going to be able to get a word out of either one of my friends. Kazuma yawned loudly as he reached the base of the stairs and waved at us from across the room, but didn't join us at the table. He made his way over to Yusuke instead, plopping down on the couch (only giving the other boy the barest of seconds to move his legs) and then struck up a conversation with his best friend.

I tuned them out, directing my attention back to Keiko but she had a faraway look in her eyes now and I sighed in disbelief. It was just my luck that Kazuma would interrupt us.

"Keiko?" I questioned, trying to get her to look at me.

She jumped, as if I had startled her, and then her gaze landed on me. That gloomy look didn't leave her eyes though – it was as if she was staring straight through me. Her gaze lasted only briefly, before shifting to Kazuma.

"You know, he got into a huge fight with Yusuke last night over you. I can't believe you're just going to drop it."

I rolled my eyes and through gritted teeth said, "He seems to be over it too, if you haven't noticed."

And it was true, Yusuke and Kazuma were both talking rather animatedly about the plans they had made for the day, while Keiko and I had planned to set the rest of the apartment to rights. If I hadn't heard Kazuma's yelling through the bathroom door the night previously it would have been impossible to tell they had fought at all.

She sniffed, sticking her nose into the air and pursing her lips. I could tell we were in for an argument at this rate and I would have none of that bullshit.

"Don't even start, Keiko." I say, warningly.

We may be best friends, but that didn't mean we didn't have our differences. We had fought before, but perhaps none of those fights would be as important as this one felt to me. I needed to know what she was hiding or I would never be able to look at her the same again.

Suddenly serious and solemn, Keiko released a breath before speaking, "It isn't for me to say."

"Excuse me?" I don't understand what she is trying to tell me.

"It isn't for me to say, Kasumi. You think they're strange and maybe they are, but it is their business why they are the way they are. Ask them, if you are truly that curious."

For some reason I felt as if she _knew _I wouldn't ask them directly. Not that I was afraid or didn't have the courage to do so, but because I had no real proof to back up my claims. Those things I had seen and felt could be explained away by tricks of the light or my mood. At this point I realized I wouldn't be getting anywhere by questioning anyone, at least not at this stage. I wanted to be a detective and it was time to put my training to the test. What did any good officer do at the scene of a crime? _Investigate it._

I would have to watch their every move, listen to everything they had to say no matter how inconsequential it seemed to be. I would sneak around if I had to – eavesdrop and spy. It might not get me into their good graces, but at least I will know who I am dealing with.

The unknown has always been something abhorrent to me – something I needed to eradicate. I had already decided some time ago that even if becoming a cop did nothing in my advancement in finding Hitomi I would find something else that would. Not knowing what happened to her was one of the worst feelings in the world. Even if I discovered her to be dead, at least I could move on with my life.

No…this constant need to know things probably wouldn't change even after I found out what occurred the night my sister disappeared, but it would be a start.

My reverie was broken when Keiko got up to get another cup of coffee, bringing two cups out of the kitchen with her and meandering over to give the other to Yusuke. He smiled at his girlfriend gratefully as she sunk down into the empty spot on his other side. I heard Kazuma ask if I would like to join them but I just shook my head distractedly before draining my mug and wandering off to get started on putting my room straight.

At some point Yusuke and Kazuma left, leaving me and Keiko alone, but she was giving me the cold shoulder so I followed suit…it was going to be a _long _day.

**. . .**

Hours later, after night had already fallen, Keiko finally decided to speak to me, which she hadn't done since this morning. It was only to ask if I wanted to order take out or brave the grocery store for food supplies, but both of us were in agreement that we didn't want to go shopping this late in the evening and instead Keiko suggested going out to eat.

I figured we were just going to order some food and take it home with us, but after walking the city's sidewalks for a while and passing several different take-out places and not stopping I got fed up and broke our silence again.

"Where are we going?"

"A ramen stand, it isn't too far now."

I felt my eyebrows draw down over my forehead in bewilderment, because it was unusual for Keiko to want ramen, but she didn't elaborate and I didn't ask. We continued to walk, the night air was cool and it sent shivers down my spine forcing me to huddle further into my jacket for warmth.

Eventually we came upon a little wooden cart on wheels. The sign above it was simple, only stating Ramen in big letters, but the soft glow coming from inside the cart was welcoming. I could hear men's voices and one of them sounded very familiar, as we rounded the corner and came to the front of the stand I discovered it was Kazuma sitting at one of the stools in front of the establishment (if you could even call it that). Behind the counter, to my utter astonishment, was Yusuke. He wore an apron and a little paper hat over his slicked back hair. He had a spatula in hand and was currently trying to slap Kazuma over the head with it.

As we slipped into two of the few remaining seats (leaving the one next to me empty, because Keiko had decided to sit on Kazuma's opposite side), they had yet to notice us. I used this to my advantage so I could send a jab at Yusuke (who I had easily surmised was the owner of the stand), "It's not very good business to ignore paying customers when they come to the counter." I pointed out.

"I knew you were there the whole time pig, keep your snout on!"

I rolled my eyes at his reply before placing an order for a basic miso ramen and listening as Keiko ordered something a little more complicated and had Yusuke groaning at having to exert the effort to make it. "Every time Keiko…" He mumbled sullenly, as he cooked away.

I was truly surprised by this little revelation; I would never have guessed Yusuke was a cook let alone a "business" owner. I voiced this opinion rather loudly to Kazuma, making sure Yusuke could hear the disbelief in my voice (I was rewarded with a threatening stare for my efforts), and had my friend laughing easily.

As bowls of steaming soup were placed in front of us, I wafted the scent up to my nose, and was also surprised at how good it looked and smelled. Of course, that didn't prevent me from continuing to torture Yusuke. "So, do I need to worry about being poisoned or is this actually safe to eat?"

I had picked up a noodle with a chopstick, looking at it with suspicion just to add to the show. The withering look Yusuke shot me was enough to make me grin and then start slurping up the noodles. Once he had finished cooking for Keiko, he joined us while we at, leaning against the counter and laughing about something Kazuma was saying through giant mouthfuls of food.

After I had finished my first bowl, I asked for a second and Yusuke was quick to make it for me. I broke apart a fresh pair of chopsticks and happily ate the second, equally delicious dish. "Ya know, I would never have guessed this is what you do for a living." I pointed a chopstick at him, a rude gesture to be sure, but Yusuke (considering who he was) didn't even notice.

He was drying a bowl with a white towel but answered me, "Why's that? Don't I just have chef written all over me?" He said sarcastically.

I snorted into my bowl, "No, more like leader of a gang."

Kazuma chuckled next to me, "Urameshi, leader of a gang? Yeah right, no one would want to be in a gang with him. He's beaten them all up too many times to count."

I raised an eyebrow at that and Yusuke just shrugged, "I get into a lot of fights, it's been happening for years and even though I've scared the wits out of most of the locals there are still some stupid enough to challenge me."

I hummed into my soup, storing away that little tidbit of information for later, and then picked up my bowl so I could drain the remaining liquid from it. Of course, a moment later that same bit of miso was spat back out when I happened to let my eyes slide over to what I had thought was the empty seat beside me.

Yusuke, who had been in front of me at the time, was wiping away the soup I had spit all over him in irritation but still managed to greet his newest customer. "Oh hey man, want the usual?"

Hiei at some point had materialized out of nowhere to take up the last remaining seat at the stand. He didn't speak a word, only nodded at Yusuke who busied himself with making whatever it was that Hiei normally ordered. The ball cap and teenager's clothing were long gone, in their place was a black cloak and white scarf but what really took the cake was _his hair_.

_Oh my fucking god…_

I think my breath might have caught in my throat at the sight of it. Who the hell had hair like that? If I had thought Shuichi's and Botan's hair was weird, they didn't even hold a candle to Hiei's. It was spiked so high it looked as if it were reaching for the stars twinkling brightly above them and as the light breeze traveling through the air ruffled the strands (that _should _have been stiff with gel) and made the light refract off it, I could see a hint of bright sapphire blue shining in the black along with sporadically placed streaks of white in his fringe.

I knew he felt me staring but I was not at all prepared when those crimson eyes darted over to glare at me. I shrunk back in my seat, practically crawling into Kazuma's lap to get away from him. His hair was the most inhuman I had ever seen, I could not recall a single person in history who had hair like that. With his red eyes the effect was complete and in that moment I knew…_I fucking knew_, there was something _wrong_ with all of them. The aura surrounding him turned suddenly violent and he was on his feet faster than I could see, grabbing me around the wrist and pulling me up from my seat with him.

I heard Kazuma yelp and Yusuke yell some kind of obscenity, but none of it mattered because I was lost to his eyes. My alien theory didn't seem so farfetched now.

I found my courage and my voice a fraction of second later, "_What the fuck are you?_" I snarled.

He dropped my wrist as if it had burned him and backed away, but the glare never left his face. Kazuma had gotten to his feet at this point and out of the corner of my eye I could see Yusuke had also vaulted over the counter. Keiko was still sitting, turned towards us with a look of horror on her face and a hand clapped over her mouth.

I mimicked his face, forming a vicious glare of my own and barked once more, "Answer me! What the fuck are you?"

Kazuma was at my side now, trying to place a calming hand on my shoulder but I turned and swung at him, my fist only narrowly missing his chin as he dodged.

"Kasumi, I think you're overreacting. Why are you asking Hiei _what_ he is? He's a person, obviously." Kazuma said nervously, but the lie was so apparent that all I could do was stare at him like he was stupid.

"I would like to remind you," I said in a deadly whisper, "That I became a cop for a reason. I'm observant and I'm certainly not a fool, I can tell that you have been hiding something and I'm sorry, but no one in their right mind would think he's a normal "person" with hair and eyes like _that."_

I pointed at Hiei angrily, ready to snap the head off the first person who tried to deny it again. I wasn't crazy, _I wasn't._

I saw Kazuma and Yusuke share a nervous glance, both of them gulping audibly before turning accusing stares on the man in question.

"Hiei, why did you show up dressed like that, you goddamn idiot?!" Yusuke snapped.

"Yeah, you must have known Kasumi was here too! Did you do it on purpose?" Kazuma added.

I felt only the slightest relief as Hiei's glare directed itself towards the other two men but instead of retaliating like I had figured he would, he just stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cloak, turned and walked away. I laid chase, hoping to question him further but by the time I rounded the stand he was already gone. My eyes roamed the entire stretch of street, down every alleyway, but I didn't see even the barest of movements.

_How the hell did he do that?_

I was beside myself and before my friends could try and explain away what I had just seen, I returned to Yusuke's shop, slammed a handful of yen down on the counter and fled. I ran at break neck speed, not paying attention to where I was going and only slowing when the sounds of Kazuma's shouts were long gone.

I continued to jog, discovering I was in a rather rotten part of the city, and hadn't thought to bring my gun with me. That didn't matter though; my bare hands were weapons in and of themselves. I had nothing to fear as long as I was careful.

I slowed to a stop, a tingling in the back of my mind telling me there was something sinister here…something bad. It was desolate, a few homeless people roaming the streets along with other shady characters that were skirting around looking guilty of something, but I paid them no mind. A screaming had filled my ears, the horrified voice of a woman far off in the distance so I picked up my feet again and ran just as fast as before.

Her screams were full of terror, reminding me of things in my past I had tried valiantly to forget – I ran faster. Eventually the ungodly noise brought me to a darkened dead end street, deserted save for two shadows at the end of it, near a high wall covered in graffiti. It was easy to tell who the assailant was and who the victim was.

Curled up in a prone position was a thin, haggard looking woman and standing over her menacingly was the hulking form of a man. I squinted in the dark to try and get a better view, because the man seemed to be too big. The size of a large sumo wrestler and twice as tall, his arms were like clubs and as my eyes roved over the scene I came to realize he was no ordinary man.

I approached cautiously and as quietly as I could but his head still jerked in my direction and I was stopped dead at what I saw. His teeth were like those of a saber tooth tiger, protruding from his mouth and dripping with saliva. His skin was covered in knotty looking warts, greyish in color and his clothing was ripped to shreds, as if his body had suddenly grown much too large for them. His eyes glowed in the dark, an odd colored orange shining in the night like traffic lights and I could see when the lids narrowed and his eyes zeroed in on me.

I had distracted the brute enough to allow the woman to scamper to her feet, "Run!" I screamed and she did, as fast as her bare feet could carry her.

She passed me and I thought for a moment she would stop, but she only spared me a glance before barreling by. I was left alone, in the dark, with this monster. That is the only thing I could think of as I looked at him.

_He isn't human; he's a beast, a monster…_a demon_._

He ran for me then, giant feet slapping against the pavement and moving faster than I expected for something of his size. I stood my ground even as fear dug its claws deep into my belly and when he reached me there was no preamble. I attacked him head on, a fist smashing into his stomach. He was hulking, a giant compared to me, but he doubled over from the force all the same. I knocked his massive legs out from underneath him, falling down with him and hitting every inch of his body I could reach.

He was snarling at me, spittle hitting me in the face and before I knew what was happening he had thrown me off him with enough strength to move a small vehicle. I went flying, hitting hard against the rough brick of one of the buildings surrounding us. Stunned, it was easy for him to grab me around the throat and haul me off my feet. I was thankful for the layers I was wearing, because the brick would have left great scratches without them as he dragged me up against the wall.

My hands grasped desperately at his, trying to dislodge them but his grip was like steel. It was becoming hard to breath, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. I lashed out with one arm, hitting him hard in the side of the head, but it didn't seem to do much damage. His ugly face only became angrier, more sinister as his hand tightened around my throat.

I kicked him as hard as I could with the boots I was wearing and he grimaced, so I kicked again and again until my legs got tired and even though it seemed to affect him, it wasn't enough to get him to loosen his grip. At this rate I was going to black out, I could already see the edges of my vision getting fuzzy.

The monster was laughing at me now, his inhumanly large mouth open as he released great guffaws, a horrible stench coming off him and before I could pass out he tossed me to the side like a rag doll. I skidded across the ground several feet, hearing my jacket and jeans tearing thanks to the rough pavement, and then rolled. He was coming for me again and I wouldn't have a chance to get back to my feet, not when I was still trying to breathe.

I performed a kip-up, handless and fast, trying to stave him off for a moment but I never had to fight again. As soon as his hulking form had reached me I watched in terror as a sword, unmistakably a katana, shot out from his chest. Blood spurted across my front, soaking me and the monster's face had frozen into a look of shock. The sword withdrew just as quick as it had entered and the body of the beast was tossed aside so it wouldn't crush me as it descended to the ground, dead.

I seriously couldn't believe my eyes and for what felt like the hundredth time that night I lost my breath, my heart lodged in my throat. Standing where the creature had just been moments ago was Hiei, a katana dripping with blood in hand and a look so cold plastered on his face I didn't know if I should fear him too or thank him.

I released a shaky breath when he didn't advance toward me and swept my sweat soaked hair out of my face, my hands were shaking and it would be impossible to regain any sort of composure at this point. I backed away slowly, shaking my head; this was the fucking craziest shit I had ever seen. I was sorely tempted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I backed away from the red eyed man until my back hit cold stone and in an instant he was upon me, pinning me to the wall, all menace and anger.

His sword was gone, seethed at his side, but he had placed both palms against the wall beside my head, caging me in. I didn't stop him, made no move to get him away from. I just stood there dumbstruck.

If things couldn't get any weirder or scarier I watched in disgust as a third eye, larger than the crimson ones staring straight into my soul, opened on his forehead. The iris glowed a bright purple and of its own accord it moved to stare at me too. I tried to press myself further into the wall, perhaps sink into it if it were possible, if only to get away from that _thing _picking my soul apart as it looked at me.

It seemed to glow brighter, the purple becoming more intense until I felt a sort of _tingling sensation_ in the back of my mind; similar to what I felt when I knew something was wrong, like my "spider senses" but slightly different. It was more invasive, more personal almost. I felt more than saw what happened next.

A purple light lit up brightly in my head, instinctually I knew this to be a part of Hiei, and it was so warm, so comforting for just a moment. I felt like I might like to feel it for an eternity but then everything went blank…and then _black._

**. . .**

I shot up from my bed with a start, breath ragged and I started to pant like I had just run for several miles without stopping. I was covered in sweat but that was the least of my worries. I picked my brain for what had made me so scared but discovered rather quickly that I couldn't even recall what had happened that day, let alone what I had been dreaming about. The last thing I remembered was getting up this morning and showering, after that it was completely blank – but _why_?

I was naked, stripped of all my clothing other than the bra and panties I had put on after my shower and as I shifted in bed to look myself over more thoroughly a painful twinge shot up my spine. My lower back and my left leg were covered in scrapes, little pieces of asphalt sticking to them and I brushed them away quickly before standing from my bed.

This wasn't right…why was my memory missing? I hadn't the foggiest idea what had happened to me and I feared the unknown so much that that thought alone had me running from my room. I didn't care that I was only in my underwear as I dashed through the door and down the stairs. My living room was full of people, people who had turned to stare at me as I entered but I didn't take the time to feel ashamed. I spotted Kazuma, looking horribly guilty; Keiko who looked like someone had just killed her dog, and Yusuke who was just as solemn as the rest of them, sitting on the couch. In the arm chair to the left sat Hiei, who was studiously ignoring me and in the right one sat Shuichi, his hands folded in his lap and looking more serious than a heart attack.

Anger hit me hard and fast, they knew something about my predicament and I could already tell they were planning to lie to me. I stopped them short before they could say a single word.

"Do not even fucking think about spinning some story. I won't be stupid enough to believe it." I pointed an accusing finger at them all, my face scrunching up in fury.

But spun they did. All at once Kazuma, Keiko, and Yusuke started to explain what had happened. All three of them told me something completely different. Kazuma said I had fallen down a flight of stairs and knocked myself out. I refuted that theory by telling him I had found bits of pavement in my wounds and that I was a highly trained martial artist, so falling down stairs was highly unlikely. It shut him up pretty quick.

Keiko's story was that a criminal had attacked me in the street on our way back from dinner and had hit me over the head with a blunt object, before trying to drag me off. Kazuma had supposedly come to my rescue but I disproved her lie by telling her there was no wound on my head that would lead anyone to think I had suffered from blunt force trauma. Her story would have been almost believable otherwise.

Yusuke was the only one who told me the truth, but of course, at the time I hadn't believed a single word of it. He spun a tale about a demon attacking a woman in the street, I had come to her rescue and been beaten up in the process. I wouldn't learn until much later that he had left out Hiei's role in the whole ordeal. Kazuma and Keiko had eyed him with wide eyes during the entire tale, making me think they thought he was just as insane as I did. _Demons? I mean, come one._

Shuichi quieted them all down, hushing his friends and informing them they were only confusing me further. "Morimoto-san, the truth is you were attacked and we must leave it at that. You were the only person there and without your memories all we have are theories. Do you truly not remember anything?"

His eyes were shrewd, calculating, as if he were trying to figure out if I was lying to him or not. I shook my head, telling him I couldn't remember a thing after this morning and I saw his emerald eyes flick to Hiei briefly before they came back to rest on me.

"I think it best that you go back to bed and rest, you have been through much the past two days." He rose from his seat and took my arm, leading me away from the group and back up the stairs. His grip was tight, but not painful, and for some reason I had a feeling arguing or fighting against him would be very foolish indeed. I allowed him to take me to my room, pretending to be cooperative for now.

After he had shut me away in my room again and I had flopped down on my bed, my brain traveling a mile a minute to try and figure out what the hell was going on, was when another thought occurred to me.

_When the hell had Shuichi and Hiei gotten here anyway?_

**. . .**

**A/N: **Ah, here's another for you. Kasumi almost found out about demons and she is going to be even more suspicious from this point on, the boys have their work cut out for them. I hope this chapter was okay, some feedback would be really awesome! I need to update Atlas again but I really just want to continue with this, I haven't even gotten to the interesting bits yet! Alas, I wish I had more time! Thanks for reading!


	6. Total and Absolute Chaos

**A/N: **I really need a beta for this story, I went back through the last chapter (and I swear, I do edit them!) and could pick out at least ten mistakes/typos. How annoying. With that being said, I'll try a little harder to edit from now on. I hate seeing mistakes but I'm always too lazy to re-upload the chapter and fix it. Anyway, onto the story! Happy reading!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it, will never own it, I am not making money from writing this.

**Warnings: **Violence, blood/gore, adult themes, Hiei dressed in human clothing, poorly written fight scenes, etc.

**. . .**

"Kasumi…?" A whisper, as soft as a butterfly's wing entered my ears and made my eyelids twitch.

"Kasumi?" It was louder this time, a little more urgent, but still muted.

"…Oneechan, are you awake?" A whisper again, dejected…sad.

Finally I sighed and rolled over in my bed to face my sister. "What is it Hitomi?" I mumbled sleepily.

"I need to tell you something." She was facing me, wide green eyes boring into my grey relentlessly.

I rubbed the sleep from my lids, trying to give her my full attention but a loud yawn gave away that I was very tired. I glanced at the alarm clock on our bedside table and saw that it was after one in the morning, but Hitomi did this to me often. I was used to our little late night chats.

"What is it?" I croaked out, my voice heavy from sleep.

"I saw something weird today…" She mumbled.

"You're always seeing weird things Hitomi, what makes this time special?" I didn't mean for it to sound condescending, but she took it that way anyway, shrinking into her covers and frowning.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean it…" I said, feeling ashamed.

Those big green eyes were on me again in an instant, forgiving me as easily as it was for her to breathe. They are our only true difference in appearance – the eyes. Mine were a bland slate grey, but Hitomi's were so green they reminded people of fresh cut summer grass. So much different, yet still so much alike in shape, but hers…they shined with a light of curiosity, of understanding that many her age did not possess, and of love that I was unwilling to feel or give freely. So much different we were, yet still _so much the same._

I loved my sister as much as I loved a fresh snowfall and the feel of water on your skin during a summer rain. I loved her as much as I loved how the sun's rays filled me with warmth and as much as a hot cup of cocoa on a cold winter's morning. She was my everything – the one person who ever accepted me exactly for who I am. I would do anything for her: I would die for her.

"Have you ever _really _looked at Grandma and Grandpa?" She asks.

My brows draw down over my eyes in bafflement, "That's an odd question."

"It's hard to explain…but if you look at them, I mean _really look close_, you can see they are meant to be together."

"What do you mean?"

"They're soul mates, can't you tell?"

"Isn't them being together for forty years proof enough?" I ask.

"I guess you can't see it then…"She mumbles again, her lips turning up into a pout.

"See what?" I suppress an eye roll – Hitomi was a little too dramatic for my tastes.

"The red string," She whispers.

"Huh?"

"Oh Kasumi, you're so blind to things."

I was scowling now – I hated when she acted as if I were younger and stupider than her. Hitomi did better in everything that wasn't physical. She had better grades, more friends, a nicer personality, and often it would seem a sense for the supernatural. I had a hard time believing that one, though Grandpa did say it ran in the family. Then again, Grandpa also believed in things like demons and ghosts.

"It's called the red string of fate and it binds two people together for eternity, meaning they are soul mates!" She explains haughtily.

"I think you're full of it," I spit, turning my back on her and pulling the covers over my head.

"You'll see Kasumi; I'll prove it to you one day! I'll prove that I can see these things for real!" Her voice is petulant but I can also hear the determination there.

_She's just like Grandpa…_I think to myself. He believed in all those weird things too and was also disappointed when I didn't see the same things he did. He was constantly training me and during that training I've been forced to do a lot of meditation to try and unlock my "latent abilities," whatever that meant.

"Go to sleep Hitomi," I finally say and I hear her roll over and go quiet.

But I wasn't able to fall back asleep that night. I lay awake and thought about what she had said. I thought about all the other times she had told me she had seen something weird and then I began to wonder – _why couldn't I?_ We were identical in every way except for our eyes…was that it? The eyes? It couldn't be…

**. . .**

Present day me awoke slowly, reveling in the memory I had just dreamt of because I missed my sister so much. But it was fleeting and the more aware I became the faster the dream left me, until I felt empty and cold. I also couldn't shake the feeling that it was trying to tell me something…but that was just foolish, it was only a memory and a long forgotten one too.

_The red string…_I thought, as I held up my little finger and wondered if Hitomi were here would she see one on my pinky just like she saw it between Ojichan and Obaachan?

_Probably not…_I thought bitterly, as I strongly believed there were no such things as soul mates. Just like I never believed Ojichan about the demons…or the ghost the supposedly lived in our attic…or the time the city had supposedly been overrun with brain sucking bugs.

Don't misunderstand me, I didn't think my Grandfather was crazy, but he certainly wasn't normal. My Grandmother and Hitomi had always believed him too…I was the only one left skeptic and often alone. I guess that's why he trained me as hard as he did, to try and compensate for my lack of the "sight" as he had called it.

I sat up in bed, letting the blankets pool into my lap and tried to push away these old memories but I was still left with an inkling that I was _missing something. _But what could some conversation I'd had with my sister at twelve years old truly be about? What was my brain trying to tell me?

I still couldn't recall the events of the day previously and just as I had done over and over again through the night, I reached up to feel the back of my head. There was no wound, no bump, nothing that could possibly indicate I had suffered some kind of trauma – _so why the hell couldn't I remember anything?_

The color purple flashed across my mind's eye briefly…and left me more confused the harder I thought about it. What did that have to do with anything? I was saved from my musings when a knock came to my door. It was soft and hesitant and I automatically knew it was Keiko.

"Come in," I called and the door creaked open.

Keiko was standing there in a pair of pajamas, long pants and a button up shirt with little kittens printed all over it. And she says _my_ clothes are hideous…

"How are you feeling?" She asks and I just smile.

"If I could remember what happened to me yesterday I would be feeling much better."

She looked guilty for a moment but covered it up with a smile in return. "Your face doesn't look much better…though the bruises are starting to yellow already."

I had forgotten all about my face to be honest, too caught up in my sudden memory loss to really care. I watched as Keiko cautiously entered my room so she could sit at the end of my bed, turned so she was facing me. She looked like she was about to say something important and I waited with bated breath.

"Kasumi…I think it would be best if you stayed away from Yusuke for a while."

Out of all the things I expected her to say, that hadn't been one of them. "Huh?" And then, "Why?"

She swallowed audibly and continued, "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

I couldn't help the bark of laughter that shot out of my mouth at that statement. I wasn't scared of Yusuke, not even after the other night. "It's a broken nose Keiko, it could have been worse and I'm sure he isn't normally like that."

"I'm not talking about the fight…"

"Then what are you talking about?"

She was silent for a long time, twiddling her fingers and looking anxious. "Look Kasumi, there are things that Yusuke is involved with that we can't have you knowing about. He seems to think it would be better if you did but Kazuma and I both agree that it is safer that you don't know."

"Oh? You know you're making him sound very suspicious right?"

She cringed, "Yes, but it's nothing criminal, I promise."

"Then what the hell else could it possibly be Keiko? You aren't making any sense!"

"I know…" She sighed, threading her hands through her hair in frustration, "I don't know how to explain it without telling you. Can't you just trust me?"

"I want to trust you Keiko but you're making it really hard lately, you and Kazuma both. Does this have to do with what happened to me yesterday?"

I knew I had guessed right when her eyes lowered and that same look of guilt appeared and didn't go away. I didn't feel sorry for her, not in the least. I was sick of people trying to control my life – it was high time I took matters into my own hands.

So forming a plan, I took a wild guess. My brain had been trying to tell me something since last night and now I was going to pick it apart. The most prevalent was my sister and Grandfather's love of the supernatural, so I went out on a limb and said the first thing that came to mind, "Is this about the story Yusuke told me last night?"

A drop of sweat had appeared on her forehead, beading and then running down her temple to her chin. She bit her lip and started to wring her hands in her lap – all signs of sudden nervousness. This was starting to get ridiculous – Keiko couldn't be serious…_could she?_

"This is about demons? Come on Keiko, you have got to be kidding?!"

She laughed, high pitched and slightly hysterical, "No! That would be silly! There is no such thing!"

It didn't sound very convincing and by the look on her face she realized it too. Before I could point it out though, she rose from the bed and headed for the door, stopping just on the threshold. "I know it doesn't make sense…but please, just listen to me."

And then she left, shutting the door softly behind her and leaving me with more questions than answers. I flopped back down onto my pillows, pulling at my hair and wanting to scream but controlled myself even as the urge seemed to grow by the second. Then it occurred to me what day it was…_Saturday._

I was out of my bed faster than lightning, pulling apart my dresser for something suitable to wear and thinking the whole time that I could have used Keiko's help. I checked the clock on my bedside table and discovered it was still very early…so I calmed down significantly. Ren wouldn't be here to pick me up until noon, it was only six. That gave me time to go through my normal morning routine – train, meditate, shower, coffee and breakfast.

I dressed in shorts and a baggy t-shirt and then spent the next two hours outside my room in the loft going through what little Tai-Chi I knew, then my Katas. I dug out the practice sword I had stashed in my closet and went through all my striking exercises. Finally, after I was covered in sweat and sore, I sat down on the hardwood and meditated for half an hour. By eight-thirty I was finished and in the shower.

I dressed for the day, trying to make myself look at least semi-feminine. The outfit I had chosen for the date was simple – a knee length lavender colored skirt and grey button up top. I had also pulled out a black leather jacket as the day looked gloomy and cold.

I was sitting at the breakfast table pulling on my stockings when Keiko came out of the kitchen with food and I grinned excitedly at what she had made. Instead of a traditional Japanese breakfast, Keiko had done something nice for me and cooked American cuisine. I had a strange liking for most American foods and their breakfasts were simply _the bomb._ A platter of bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and pancakes greeted me happily and I hastily pulled my stockings up the rest of the way (somehow avoiding getting a run in them) so I could dig in. Keiko followed suit and we chatted amiably as we ate, choosing to ignore what had occurred only a few hours ago.

Half-way through her second piece of toast Keiko finally noticed that I was sort of dressed up. Her eyes narrowed accusingly and it took me no time at all to remember I had not mentioned my date. I had only told Kazuma – who had been no help at all, might I add.

"Why are you dressed normal today?"

I glared at her, "I dress normal every day."

"Sure you do," Her tone was dubious and condescending and only made my glare at her harder.

"If you must know," I said pompously, "I'm going on a date."

This changed her entire attitude. She dropped her toast, letting her breakfast get cold as she shot rapid fire questions at me, "Who? When? Where? Why?"

I tried to answer her as fast as I could while still avoiding the "Who" question. Keiko had met Ren more than once, as had Kazuma, but Keiko loved him. She thought he was perfect for me and had spent countless hours telling me so. Kazuma on the other hand was right with me in the hatred department. He thought Ren was slimy and fake – I agreed.

After telling her I didn't know where we were going or why he had asked me I finally could no longer avoid telling her who it was in particular. I still tried though, all the same.

"So, who is it?" She asked again.

"Someone from the precinct," I said evasively.

"That didn't answer my question."

I don't want to tell her, I really don't…but that look she's giving me is promising pain if I don't spit it out soon. I relent after enduring her stare for only a minute, "Okay, okay…it's Ren."

She squeals and screams that she "Knew it!" And I cringe, stuffing my face with more food so I can avoid speaking. A second later she runs off only to return with a bag full of cosmetics. I'm absolutely horrified at the amount of make-up Keiko owns, even though she wears so little, and before I can do or say anything to save myself she sets to work on my face.

Eye shadow, foundation, mascara, eye and lip liner, and one painful eyebrow tweezing later and she's almost finished. She picks out a lipstick that complements my skin tone (or so she says) and makes me purse my lips so she can apply it. She steps back to cast a critical eye on her work and then smiles in satisfaction.

"Much better!" She claps her hands together and grins.

I'm still skeptical, but when she holds up a hand mirror so I can see as well I am surprised that she somehow managed to cover up the worst of the bruising, though if you looked closely enough you could still see the dark purple splotches. At least the swelling had finally gone down so my nose no longer looked so bulbous.

"Thank you Keiko," I say, because after all, it did look _much, much better._ My hatred for make-up was still there though, even in light of this.

So I could escape her questioning I told her I needed to go make a call and confirm the time Ren would be picking me up. This wasn't true, but there was only so much primping and girl talk I could take. I fled to the safety of my room, shutting the door and placing my back against it so I could slide down its surface to the floor.

_I shouldn't even be going on this stupid date; I have more important things to worry about._ I think to myself as I sit in a heap on the floor, wrinkling my skirt but using very little energy in caring about it.

Today was certainly going to be interesting…

**. . .**

As promised Ren had come to pick me up at exactly twelve and I discovered shortly thereafter that I had dressed inappropriately considering what Ren drove when he wasn't using the squad car. He had pulled up on a motorcycle of all things – one of those sporty ones that could weave in and out of traffic. It was a midnight blue in color and if I hadn't been wearing a skirt I would have been excited that I had gotten a chance to ride on it. I'd never been on a motorcycle before but I had always thought it looked exhilarating.

So here we were, I was standing on the curb outside my apartment building trying to think of a way to sit on the bike without my skirt flying up and allowing the world at large to see my undergarments and Ren was straddling his bike, an extra helmet held in his hands and a smirk a mile wide on his face. He's eyeing me up and down, look appreciative but also full of humor at my predicament.

"Didn't you tell me you hated dressing up?" The amusement is apparent in his voice and it has me turning around and walking back up my apartment building's steps.

He scrambles off the bike to follow me, still carrying the helmet and freaking out because he thinks I'm backing out on the date. What I really intended to do was change my clothes…or at least the skirt. Ren was wearing a rather nice (and form fitting) pair of blue jeans and I figured it would be acceptable for me to wear the same. Besides, my leather jacket would look way cooler with jeans instead of a skirt.

I abandon him at the door with no explanation, but stopped to tell Keiko (who had come out of the kitchen wondering why someone had walked into her home) that I was just changing my clothes. She lamented on this fact for a moment, so I had to tell her about the motorcycle. Her mouth turned into a little "Oh" of understanding and I marched off to find pants, leaving her alone with Ren.

I dug out and donned a pair of light wash jeans, threaded a leather belt through the loops on the waist band, and then went to find my date. Ren was standing just where I had left him, on the threshold of our home, helmet in hand and talking to Keiko. He had her giggling about something and I didn't bother to hide the rather pointed eye roll I sent his way. He smiles at me, genuine and rather sexy, with all those perfectly straight white teeth behind those full lips.

"Ready?" He asks, still smiling.

"Yep," I say, waving goodbye to Keiko once again and heading out the door without him.

I hear him say his farewells to my friend before following me, falling into step beside me and we walk back outside in silence. He gets on the bike first, starting it up and then handing me the helmet.

"Do I really have to wear this?" I know it's going to ruin my hair.

"You're a cop, you tell me." He says cheekily.

I cram the helmet onto my head and straddle the bike behind him. I try to find a place to put my hands so they're not touching him, but he reaches behind his back and grabs my wrists, pulling them forward so they are around his waist. I feel my face heat up but studiously ignore that little fact.

"Hold on tight," And then he puts his own helmet on (much cooler looking than mine, all black and sleek) and revs the bike up.

We're off like a shot, speeding out onto the street and the wind is blowing around us, tousling the locks of hair I have sticking out of the back of my helmet and making me feel like I'm flying. I knew it would be fun but it was even better than I had imagined as Ren raced in between cars and avoided the heavy traffic that had built up during the lunch rush on a Saturday afternoon.

The ride had my heart racing in a good way and I had a smile plastered to my face the entire time. Thoughts fled me and I was left with just feelings – feelings of exhilaration, of rapture, of well-placed and understandable fear. Especially as Ren took a corner much too fast, yelling at me to lean into it, but it had my blood pumping and reminded me of the adrenaline that runs through my veins during a competition fight. It was one of the more exciting things I had ever done, even though it was such a simple thing. I was very sad when it came to an end.

For a moment, after Ren has pulled the bike to a stop, I forget that I have my arms wrapped around him and I just sit on the back of the bike wishing he would start it up again. I would be a happy girl if riding around on that thing was all the date consisted of.

"You gonna let me go Kasumi?" He chuckled lightly, one of his large palms straying to mine and resting there rather intimately.

I snatch my arms away from him, hopping off the bike and pulling the helmet off my head. I shove it into his hands and then go about fixing my hair which had been hideously flattened. As I ran my fingers through my fiery tresses I took stock of our surroundings.

We were at some kind of diner and at first I wasn't all that excited about it. A diner for the first date, I mean really? Not that I was complaining – I would have died if he'd taken me somewhere fancy. As I finished messing with my hair, I let my eyes stray up to the sign because I didn't recognize the place from sight alone.

The giant, lit up sign was in English and this instantly brightened my mood. How the hell had he known I liked American food? I whirled around to confront him about this but was momentarily distracted by the look on his face. He was staring at me with such intensity that my heart started to pound – and not in the same way riding the motorcycle had made it.

Ren was still sitting on his bike; like the sight of me had frozen him to the seat and he had pulled off his helmet, which sat in his lap forgotten. After what must have been a solid thirty seconds of just straight out staring, I cleared my throat loudly.

Ren jerked, almost dropping his helmet to the ground and then I watched in amazement as a bright red blush spread across his cheeks. He ducked his head, hiding his face from view and brought a hand up to rub at his short hair nervously. "Sorry…" He mumbled.

He used his foot to knock down the kickstand, carefully letting the bike rest its entire weight on it as he stood up. He hung both our helmets on each of the handle bars and I was tempted to point out that they could be stolen that way, but kept my mouth shut. Ren wasn't stupid – he should have realized that himself. Even so, he left them just as they were which lead me to believe he simply didn't care.

As we entered the diner though, I discovered that he wasn't as oblivious as he was acting to be. We seated ourselves, Ren picking a booth that was located directly next to the front window. We were on display for anyone walking by on the sidewalk, but it was a strategic location on Ren's part. He would be able to keep an eye on his bike with little to no effort and we were so close to the door that it wouldn't take him long to get outside should anything happen.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence as we waited for a waitress to bring us menus and I distracted myself from Ren's odd behavior by picking at invisible pieces of lint on my pants. I didn't know what to say to him, I had a million questions but couldn't voice a single one. All I could do was gulp audibly and pray he would say something first, otherwise this was starting out to be a very awkward first date.

He answered my prayers shortly after our waitress dropped off the menus. "So, are you surprised I took you to a place like this?"

His eyes never leave the menu and I watch that deep blue skip around the pages as he reads, but a crooked smile is present on his face and as I look at him I notice that he's exuding straight up _happiness_ and I haven't the first clue as to why.

As was per usual for me, I blurt out that very question without even bothering to answer his. "Why are you so damn happy?"

He stills for a second, then continues perusing the menu and without looking up answers me, "I've wanted to take you out for a long time."

I sputter stupidly for a moment, then pick up my own menu and begin reading the selection even though I already know exactly what I'm going to order – A double decker bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, and a side of french fries. It was iconic American food and also possible to get at just about any fast food place in the city, but this was different. This was _real_ food, not processed garbage.

I heard him place his menu down on the table and then mine was grabbed from my fingers, joining his off to the side for the waitress to pick back up when she came to take our orders. I wasn't really sure what he thought he was doing, as he was staring at me again, like he was looking for something important.

His brows drew down over his eyes dangerously a second later, "Is your nose broken?"

When I didn't answer immediately those blue eyes started to seethe with hidden rage and he reached out a hand to prod at my nose. I cringed instinctually and it was easy to see that he had also spotted the other bruises only just barely hidden by the large amount of make-up Keiko had applied.

"What the hell happened to you Kasumi?" He implored, still stewing in his anger and for the life of me I didn't understand why he seemed so mad.

"I got into a fight…that's not really unusual for me." I explained; shrugging it off like it was nothing.

"No…what's unusual is it looks like you lost." I shrug again in reply, unwilling to admit that I had in fact _lost_, but Ren didn't need to know that.

I was relieved when the waitress finally came back to take our orders, which we gave to her quickly (I was intrigued by the fact that Ren happened to order almost the same exact meal, except he got tomatoes and onions on his burger) and she left again to go inform the cook. Once again I was left in an uncomfortable silence with my partner and I wished I could figure out why this time it was so hard for me to make conversation.

I had gone out to eat with Ren before, not on a date mind you, but when we were on patrol. Even police officers have to eat, after all. I was lead to believe it was because Ren was acting so strangely, while we were working it was always the same – bully each other a bit, work, ignore each other, work, argue, work some more, and then go our separate ways at the end of the day.

I sat there much longer than I probably should have considering I could still feel that suppressing aura of hidden rage coming off Ren but I couldn't bring myself to say a damn thing. If I had been thinking clearly at all that day what I should have done is gotten up and walked out on him. What right did he have to be pissed off at me anyway?

"Okay, I'm done pussy footing around," I finally blurt out, unable to bear the silence a second longer. "Stop being so damn mad for a minute and tell me why the hell we're here."

He raises an eyebrow and then folds his arms across his chest and leans back in his seat so he can eye me critically. "Tell me who did that to your face first."

"Why does it matter?" He was seriously starting to piss me off.

"Because I'm going to give him a taste of his own medicine," He says with a snarl.

"Who says it was even a man that did it?"

"The size of the bruising…it's too large to be from a woman's hand." Goddamn him and his observational skills.

"Jeez Ren, maybe you should have gone into forensics instead of becoming a cop." I say flippantly.

He slams a hand down on the table, making several of the other patrons turn to stare at us and then quickly look away again when I glance around with an angry glower. That same look is directed at Ren shortly thereafter. I was more comfortable with this than I had been with anything else since he'd come to pick me up. Fighting with him was normal – it was safe.

"Enough Kasumi, tell me who hurt you!"

"No Ren, it's none of your damn business!" I shout at him, slamming my own hand down on the table for emphasis.

We're locked in a stare down, electricity practically shooting between our eyes; when the waitress comes back to nervously place our plates of food down on the table. When we don't stop glaring she scampers away without saying a single word, but neither of us pay any attention.

I raise a hand above my head, holding it out flat and say, "I've had it up to _here _with you already!"

"Well that's not very much now is it," He's referencing my height and it only makes me angrier.

"Oh screw you," I say sarcastically, picking up my burger and taking a large bite so I no longer have to speak to him.

"Anytime babe," He didn't sound like he was joking, but I pretended he was anyway.

We eat quickly – me so I can escape that much faster and Ren so he can continue to berate me without any interruptions.

Once the last fry and sip of soda had been consumed, I watched Ren slap some money down on the table, leaving the waitress a generous tip considering how rude we have been, and then get up to leave. He pulls on his jacket before grabbing mine off the back of the booth and holding it out for me to put on. I will have none of that though and snatch it from his hands so I can swing it over my shoulders and put my arms through it all on my own. I'm not a child and I sure as hell wasn't going to let Ren treat me like one.

We stomp back out onto the sidewalk but don't make it very far before he grabs me by the shoulder and wings me around to face him. "Can we stop this please?" He asks.

"If you'll drop the whole 'I need to avenge your honor' bullshit, then sure." His eyes cloud over for a moment, as if he's contemplating whether he really wants to do that or not.

"I'll find out eventually Kasumi and when I do, the guy is going to wish he was never born."

He marches over to his bike, smashes his helmet down over his head and then hands me mine. I do the same, though not quite as violently as he had, and try to suppress my laughter. Ren fighting Yusuke would be just about the best and funniest thing I'd seen in a long time…maybe I _should _tell him.

I know Ren can fight, he's not defenseless, but he's certainly not highly trained and I could tell that Yusuke was. Our fight might have been short lived and he might not know as many forms of martial arts as I do, but Yusuke knew plenty to get by. I would even bet he'd be competition worthy if he wanted to be.

Ren climbs onto the motorcycle, puts the kickstand back up and then starts the engine. I clamber on behind him, doing the same awkward dance with my hands as before but he turns around and lifts the visor on his helmet so he can stare at me in disbelief.

"Are you really that revolted by me?" I might have been imagining things, but I could have sworn he sounded hurt.

That tiny hint of pain in his voice was enough to keep me from retorting with something rather mean, as I had originally planned. Instead, I just place my hands on his hips so I can hold on and that's enough for him. He turns back around and then we are off again, speeding through the streets of Tokyo.

I figured this was the end of our date – or at least I had hoped it was, because it didn't get off to a very good start. I was wrong though, as Ren zipped through traffic and started to head in the opposite direction of my apartment building.

What I couldn't have guessed is that Ren had planned an entire day. After lunch he brought me out to an afternoon matinee at the theater to see a movie I had wanted to watch but had been too cheap to go out and see by myself. From there we stopped to get ice cream at a tiny shop hidden inside a large mall. The ice cream was homemade and delicious. Our fight had been long forgotten at that point and our conversations remained mild and pleasant throughout the rest of the date.

As the day dragged on he took me out to dinner, the place slightly fancier than the diner from earlier but not fancy enough that it would warrant a change of clothing. We discussed our cases while we ate, I talked about the classes I would be starting within a week, and he told me about his family. I didn't bother with mine…Ren already knew about Hitomi and as for the rest of my family, they were all dead, so why bring down the mood by talking about it.

I was interested in Ren's life outside of work because I had never really bothered to ask him. Apparently he was an only child, his mother having suffered several miscarriages before and after she had given birth to him – his family called him the "miracle child" and I rolled my eyes at that one, like he needed any more ego fluffing.

His father had passed away five years ago from a heart attack and his mother lived on her own not far from where Ren was located and he made it a point to go out and visit her at least once a week. I called him a momma's boy but he only smiled good naturedly and agreed with me, which wasn't very fun.

Dinner ended sooner than I wanted it to, mostly because I was finally starting to enjoy myself and wanted it to continue. As we strode out of the restaurant with an air of contentment about us he stopped me before I could put the helmet back on and straddle his bike.

"There's one last place I want to take you, if that's alright?" He seemed apprehensive; like he was afraid I would say no.

Night had already fallen and I looked up at the darkness above us, wishing (just as I did every night) that you could see the stars while in the city, but the smog was too much for them and no matter how bright they could not shine through. All I could make out was the murky outline of the moon, its vibrant glow dim thanks to the unpleasant pollution.

I look back at Ren, who is standing there like a lost little boy, and the look isn't good on him at all. So I smile a genuine one that stretches my lips across my teeth and causes his eyes to light up with some unknown emotion. "Sure, take me wherever you'd like."

That probably wasn't a good choice of words but I can see he is relieved and that makes me happy, so I climb on the back of the bike and allow him to place my helmet gently over my head. He joins me and then off we go again, except this time he takes the ride at a leisurely pace, like he's trying to drag this out as long as he can.

He drives out of the city, much farther than I had expected but I'm not nervous or scared. Ren might be an asshole most of the time and we may fight constantly, but he was trustworthy. When he pulls onto a deserted back road made entirely of dirt and full of pot holes he is forced to slow down even further and eventually we reach a steep incline. He rides the bike up it no problem and when we reach the top I discover we are on some kind of hill. He parks the bike on a patch of grass and gets off, removing his helmet quickly and then assisting me in pulling off mine.

He takes my hand and leads me to the very edge of the hill which is quite steep. You can see the lights of the city down below and I realize we have come out quite far because they are only little pinpricks on the horizon now.

"Look up," He whispers and he's so close to my ear that I can feel his breath against my face, but I don't flinch away as I expected I would.

He's still holding my hand, our fingers aren't threaded together or anything, but his palm is warm and it makes my heart flutter. I look up, just as he instructed, and I gasp softly at what I see.

He has taken me far enough out of the city to be able to see the stars in all their glory, twinkling brightly and the moon shining beautifully in the sky. I bask in its light for a moment, breathing in the cool autumn air. I let go of his hand so I can fall backwards onto the grass, landing with an "oomph" and then laughing when Ren does the same beside me. We lay there for a long while, not speaking because it would ruin the moment, and just enjoying each other's company as best we can.

I don't say anything when his hand grasps mine once again nor do I speak up when he sidles over just a tad closer to me.

I had to admit to myself that this date really hadn't been _all that bad_. Of course, I still wasn't willing to tell_ him_ that.

**. . .**

After a good solid hour of star gazing Ren brought me home as promised, we didn't make plans for another date and he never did explain to me why he wanted to take me out so badly, nor why it had been as romantic as it was.

He didn't try to kiss me goodbye or even hug me – I was _very _thankful for that. I didn't think I would be able to deal with the weirdness at work afterwards if he had. The only true gesture he made was to squeeze my hand gently after I had stepped off the bike and handed him back the extra helmet. He placed it in a carryon bag strapped to the side of the bike.

I don't know if he was embarrassed or just didn't know how to conduct himself after our night out, but unlike last time he did not wait for me to enter my apartment upon leaving. I waved goodbye to him as he raced off and he looked back at me as long as he could, until it became necessary for him to pay attention to where he was going.

I never thought in my life I would ever wish Ren hadn't left, but that night I wished it harder than anything and not because I missed him or had suddenly fallen in love with the jerk after one date. Oh no. You see, as I stood on the curb, quite distracted with the multitude of strange thoughts I now had stuck in my head thanks to the fucked up week I'd had, I never heard the two men come up behind me.

I was struck in the back of the head, hard enough to knock me down and disorient me but not enough to completely knock me out. My assailants didn't realize this though as I could hear them speaking over me, my eyes squeezed shut in pain. The voices were definitely male, though they weren't deep, but that isn't what truly caught my attention.

I stilled on the ground, letting them believe they had knocked me unconscious and just listened to what they were saying.

"You think we got the right one?"

"Looks just like the description doesn't it?"

"Yeah but…boss said she has a twin sister."

"So? What difference does it make? As long as we got one of the gate keepers that's all that matters."

"Yeah but...the one boss wants is the actual key, not the guardian."

_What the fuck are they talking about? These guys must have escaped from a crazy house._

"For fuck sakes, just shut up and help me tie her up."

I wasn't going to let that happen any time soon, thank you very much. I sprung up from the ground, surprising the two men who were standing next to me with lengths of heavy rope clutched in their palms. They were skinny and tall, with pointed noses and beady little eyes. They both looked almost exactly the same besides their skin color. The one on the left had skin a dark royal blue in color and the other's was a rusty shade of red. Both of the men had tiny horns sticking out above each of their eyes.

_What the actual fuck?_ Was all I could think and my brain was screaming at me that I had seen something like this before – _but when?_

I wasted no time in dwelling on their appearance because if I made one mistake I was going to find myself hogtied and kidnapped. I punched the blue skinned one hard in the face, instantly breaking his nose and knocking him off his feet. I kicked him hard in the head right after, seeing blood spray across the sidewalk and knowing I had knocked him out. With him down for the count I turned to the next guy but he was already running away, a tail (yes you read that correctly, a f_ucking tail_) literally hanging between his legs as he sped off.

I didn't lay chase, more worried about stealing the rope out of the unconscious man's hands and using it tie him up with. It was better I had a hostage than revenge for the pain my head was currently in. I was tempted to pull out my cell phone and call Ren or maybe even someone at the precinct so I could report the incident…but then I took another look at him. Blue skin…horns…they would never believe me. What the hell was I going to do now?

So…I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the rope, hauled the man up over my shoulder (which was fairly difficult considering my size) and then carried him up to my apartment. I was thankful none of my neighbors were of the nosey sort because I would have been a sight to see. I mean, I was carrying an unconscious blue skinned weirdo and I must have had blood dripping down the back of my head by now.

But when I reached the door a sudden clarity raced through my mind – I was bringing a dangerous person into my home. The home where one of my best friends was currently inside – that would be a foolish mistake, to bring him in and let him see her. What should I do now? I didn't have many options and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go with him. I could hope that his odd colored (and I had discovered, also scaly) skin, tail, and horns were just a figment of my imagination brought on from the blow to my head, but that was probably wishful thinking.

I could call Ren…he might help me and if I didn't mention any of the weird stuff about the guy he could come and see it with his own eyes. He might not believe me if I just tell him but no one could deny what they could see right in front of their face. Of course, I was still holding onto to that vain hope that I was only seeing things. Ren might be able to confirm that too, if I were to call him…

Every second I stood there in indecision the man (creature?) got heavier so before I started digging through my pockets for my phone, my mind made up, I dropped him none too gently to the ground. He landed with a dull thump, body in a heap. I kept my eyes trained on him as I dug through my pockets only to discover I had not brought my cell phone and the frustration this invoked was enough to make me kick the man again, this time in the ribs. He grunted, but didn't wake up.

_What am I going to do now?_

I was saved (if you wanted to call it that) from having to make that decision when I heard voices on the stairs. I panicked, scrambling around to try and block the man from view because I had nowhere to run. It was either bring him into the apartment and risk Keiko's life, or stand out here and be caught by my neighbors. Of course, when I discovered I recognized the voices my panic only increased.

The loud and obnoxious voices of Yusuke and Kazuma was easily discernable, then there was the quieter more refined tones of Shuichi's…then finally, in short clipped sentences, was Hiei's deep grumble. All four of them at once was my worst nightmare, I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there like an idiot as I saw the tops of their heads appear and finally their bodies.

All four stopped and stared. Then Yusuke laughed, Kazuma's face morphed into a mix of horror and anger but it was Shuichi's exasperated expression and Hiei's rather annoyed smirk that really had me confused. Nothing about this situation was funny and I had no idea how to react to _their r_eactions. So I did the next best thing and acted clueless.

"Oh hey guys, fancy meeting you here."

That one sentence had Kazuma on me at once; he grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me rather violently. "What the hell were you thinking Kasumi?!" He shouted; panic laced through his words.

"What _I_ was thinking?!" I shout right back, "This mother fucker attacked me!"

He grimaced at my language, chose to ignore it, and then questioned me further. "What do you mean it attacked you?! When?"

I did notice the use of the word 'it' and it made my suspicions grow further. The other three men had advanced on us as well, to stand around and watch the show. Yusuke had bent at the knee so he could crouch and poke at the _thing _still lying on the floor like some kind of dead animal. Hiei and Shuichi stood on the sidelines, both of their eyes trained on me, Shuichi with his eyebrows raised practically to his hairline and Hiei's narrowed dangerously.

I ignored them for now and gave my full attention to Kazuma. I broke his hold on me and shoved him away. He stumbled, almost falling, but regained his footing last second. He planted himself in front of me once more, but at least he was smart enough not to touch me again.

"I don't know how much clearer I can be, this guy and his accomplice hit me in the back of the head with a goddamn lead pipe! After that I didn't know what to do with him and I was going to try to interrogate the guy, but thought it would be better not to bring him inside where Keiko is." I said all of this in an angry rush, snapping at Kazuma because he was making me feel like an animal that had been backed into a corner.

His shoulders slumped though his eyes remained wary and they kept flicking back and forth between me and the creature on the floor. "So…this guy, did he say anything?"

Before I could answer, Shuichi stepped forward and placed a hand on Kazuma's shoulder, "I think it would be best to take this inside. This is not the place for such a conversation." He said calmly, like this sort of thing happened to him every day.

I watched as Yusuke hefted the man up over his shoulder, turned to grin and wink at me, and then he headed inside. I heard him call for Keiko and fear lanced my heart, I went to rush in after him, but someone grabbed me by the arm to stop me.

"Do not fear for her, nothing will befall Keiko as long as we are here." It was Shuichi, still calm and sensible, and then there was me – a panicked mess.

"You don't understand! They're dangerous and there was someone with him! What if he comes back?"

"He won't," Hiei snapped, like he thought I was a moron for even thinking it.

My eyes wide with disbelief, I was tempted to take my frustrations out on him, for no other reason than the look on his face. Even with the stupid hat on and the hoodie that was too big for him, that look was still cold and harsh. I'd had enough.

"Go fuck yourself," I said viciously, turning on my heels and striding into my apartment.

Keiko was standing nervously by the breakfast table, whereas Yusuke had tossed my assailant into one of the wooden chairs, securing the rope around it so he couldn't leave. He stood by like a guard dog, his eyes just as hard and cold as Hiei's were only moments ago. A chill ran down my spine and I let my mind believe it was caused by a draft from the door, but my heart knew better. It had started to pump with adrenaline as fear rushed through me. I might be able to get some answers out of them tonight – but at what price?

"Take a seat Kasumi," I heard Kazuma snap from behind me – why he was so angry with me I couldn't fathom.

I didn't listen to him; instead I walked off to the kitchen, dug out a pitcher and filled it with the coldest water I could get out of the tap. I strode back out and over to where Yusuke was. I removed my leather jacket, tossing it over a chair so it would be out of the way. I then took my place directly in front of the guy who had attacked me, ignoring everyone's questioning eyes but Yusuke knew what I was doing. He backed off, just far enough so he wouldn't get splashed and then I dumped the entire contents of the pitcher over the creature's head.

It awoke with a splutter, spitting water everywhere and whipping its head around to shake the liquid out of what little hair it had. This might be the strangest thing I'd ever done, but I wasn't going to answer any questions until I had some of my own confirmed. This thing knew something about Hitomi and I wouldn't let anything or anyone get in my way until I knew what that something was. This would be the first break I'd had in three years – I wasn't about to waste it.

Once it had managed to clear its vision and his eyes landed on me, he stilled in the seat only briefly than began to struggle violently. I was about to hit him when Yusuke came around the chair and all it took was for the creature to take one look at him – just one.

He reared back in sudden fear and began to shake; his blue skin even looked lighter, as if he had paled considerably at the sight of Urameshi Yusuke. This confused me – why would he be so afraid of him? It didn't make sense to me.

"Shit…" It whispered, "Shit, shit, shit…"

"Yeah, you should be afraid asshole." Yusuke said with a twisted smile.

"I didn't know!" It yelped, "I didn't know she was one of yours Urameshi Yusuke-sama!"

"Shut the fuck up, if you think trying to flatter me is going to get you anywhere than you're even stupider than you look!" The creature closed its mouth with a snap but even so it continued to whimper in fear.

I was staring at Yusuke with shock clear as day written all over my face, that thing had called him Yusuke-sama, like he was some form of royalty and how had he known who Yusuke was at all? I had thought I would get some answers but now I just had more questions. So many questions that my brain couldn't keep up with them all, so I decided they could wait, and stepped up so I was in front of Yusuke now.

"Your business is with me," I said coldly.

I turned my head briefly so I could gauge Keiko's reaction, who was standing at the far end of the table so she had some distance from the events playing out before her eyes, and I was shocked to see that she was not at all surprised at what was going on, though she did look scared and worried. Her eyes locked with mine when she noticed I was staring at her and there was an apology of some kind in them – maybe it was for making me believe I was insane this past week or maybe because she felt guilty for not explaining things sooner. She wouldn't be able to escape that fate this time; I would make sure of that.

I turned back to the blue skinned man who was still visibly fearful, but had calmed down significantly when I took over for Yusuke. I stepped a little closer, in an attempt to intimidate him, but his eyes only narrowed defiantly.

"I will tell you nothing Guardian."

I wasn't going to play that game. I brought a foot up and smashed it down onto his crotch. I was happy to discover that it did, in fact, have the male genitalia because he howled in pain, tears gathering in the corners of his beady eyes. I dug my foot in further, crushing his manhood to the chair and making it cry out once more.

"If you don't tell me what you know about my sister, I will make sure your privates will be an unrecognizable mess once I'm finished with them."

I let up on the crushing, giving him a moments relief where he whimpered like a baby and pulled futilely at his bonds. I heard Yusuke mumble something about me liking to destroy a man's pride and joy, which would have made me laugh, if I wasn't in this current situation.

I had to ignore what was in front of me, I had to ignore the people around me, the freakiness of the situation and the fear it had invoked in me, because all that mattered in this moment was Hitomi. I had vowed to find her by any means necessary and if that meant I had to torture a blue skinned, horned and tailed _thing _than I damn well was going to do just that.

I applied a little more pressure, grinning rather evilly at the man. "So, are you going to talk or not?"

He gulped, making the Adam's apple in his neck bob up and down. "My master will kill me…"

"_I'll_ kill you if you don't start talking!" I crushed his testicles again, slightly enjoying the pain filled keen he let off afterwards.

"I can't, I can't…" It said, full on crying now.

I lunged forward and grabbed the thing by its throat, digging my fingers into him and glaring straight into his black eyes. "Why did you attack me?"

He choked, but forced his first true answer out anyway, "I was ordered to."

"By who?!" I snapped, digging my fingers in just a little deeper.

"I do not know his name." He ground out.

"I think you're lying," More pressure with my foot this time had him cringing and more tears leaking out of his eyes to trail down his blue, scaly cheeks.

"Please Guardian; I do not know his name!"

I gave up on that line of questioning in favor of another, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"That is what you are. I should have listened to my partner; we _did _find the wrong one!" He lamented tearfully.

I recalled the conversation the two men had been occupied with while I had laid on the ground disoriented from the blow to my head. _They were talking about gate keepers…but last I checked I don't spend my days guarding a random gate somewhere…_

"What am I supposedly guarding then?"

The question had him frozen to his chair; he gave up on struggling and even crying, so he could look at me in horror. "I cannot speak of it."

"Well bud, I'm getting pretty sick of this bullshit, so if you don't decide to change your mind within the next ten seconds I might just end your miserable existence."

Then I started a countdown, ticking each second off cruelly as he started to panic once more. Finally, with another flood of tears, he burst forth with real answers as I reached the number two.

"Wait, wait! I will speak, please!" What I didn't know is that Yusuke had been doing something behind my back the entire time. I wouldn't find out until later what that something was, but it helped me none the less.

"That's a good boy…now start talking or I might change my mind."

He gulped, "You…you have been sought after for some time…my master wishes to have you and the other one…the one you call Hitomi."

"Who is your master?" I ask again and this time he answers.

"I do not know his name…only what he is. He is a demon that rose amongst the ranks of the Makai only within the past year. No one knows where he came from but they also do not deny his authority."

I had no fucking clue what this nutter was going on about – _the Makai, demons? What did that even mean?_

"Are you fucking serious right now? Do you really think I would believe _that?_"

He looked confused, completely lost as to why I wouldn't believe that some _demon badass _was after me. But then I thought of my Grandfather, of all the stories (or at least I had thought that's all they were) he had told Hitomi and I over the years about demons and gods. I recalled one about there being three worlds all connected but still separated from each other – the Ningenkai, the Reikai…and the Makai. That story had another part though – a part about a fourth world, one that was not connected to any of the others and could only be opened by a very powerful spell.

My Grandfather had called it _Purgatory_ and explained that only the evilest of beings resided there, biding their time until the seal was broken and they could enter our world and destroy _life as we know it._

…Maybe my Grandfather hadn't been as crazy as I originally thought.

"Okay…so let's say what you just told me is true…why would your master want me and my sister?"

He eyed me like_ I _was the crazy one, "To open Purgatory, of course."

There was a gasp and curse behind me, one belonging to Shuichi and the other to Hiei, while Kazuma questioned them on their reaction. I didn't have time to worry about that now though, I had to pay attention to what I was doing or I would never get the information I needed.

"Purgatory isn't real…how about you try again?" I snap.

"Yes, that is true, not many demons believe in its existence, but there is evidence now."

"And what evidence might that be?"

"You and your twin, Guardian."

I wanted to snap his neck; I was so frustrated with these cryptic answers. I punch him hard in the face, cracking his already broken nose and forcing a scream to burst from his mouth.

"What do you mean?! Tell me!"

"My master…he, he has brought forth a prophecy that was stolen from the Reikai vaults. It has information in it that lead him to you, please Guardian, do not hurt me again!"

He couldn't have looked more pathetic if he tried. I opened my mouth to scream at him again, to demand what he knows of Hitomi because I had heard enough of the hair brained ideas he had about me, but before I could something strange (even stranger than what I was already looking at) occurred.

A viscous black smoke rose from a silver bracelet I hadn't noticed dangling from the creature's right arm. I heard distantly one of the boys tell me to get away from him but I didn't heed the warning. I watched, awe struck, as that smoke engulfed the man's body, swallowing him up and then he began to scream. A keening, pain soaked wail that I knew the neighbor's must be able to hear. I moved to try and shut him up, removing my hand from around his neck so I could try and cover his mouth but the smoke started to travel up my arm, wrapping around it like a snake.

It felt like razors against my skin and then it began to burn, turning more painful by the second. I jumped away from the chair but it followed me, trying to swallow me up just as it was doing to the man before me. I fell to my knees, trying to wipe it off, flailing my arm around in the hopes it would just float away, but it did neither. Instead it slowly faded, leaving behind a horrible, angry, glowing red burn in the shape of a hand. After a moment the glow faded, but the burnt palm mark remained and goddamn did it _hurt, _right down to the bone.

My eyes shot up to see what damage had been done to the blue skinned man…but all that remained of him was a charred mess, his features still discernable and locked into a look so horrified it made me sick to my stomach. Yusuke stepped forward and touched the remains – he crumbled into dust before my very eyes.

I screamed, but not because of what I had just seen and not because of the awful, biting pain in my arm, but because I had just lost my chance at finding out any information on Hitomi. I shot to my feet, picked up a chair and in a rage, threw it across the room. It landed hard, the legs breaking off and rocketing off in different directions. I wasn't finished there though. I picked up the ceramic pitcher I had used to dump the water over the demon's head (because what else could I call it at this point?) and threw that so it smashed against the wall.

Today had gone from a perfectly wonderful day to t_otal and absolute chaos._

**. . .**

**A/N: **Okay, so Kasumi now knows about demons, I didn't want her to be clueless for most of the fic. That doesn't necessarily mean she will know about the Tantei though…not yet anyway. Next chapter will be explanation time! Please give me some feedback on this one, I had a hard time with it and want to know what everyone thinks. Thanks for reading!


	7. The Walls Come Tumbling Down

**A/N:** Ahhh! I got some reviews! I was so happy to see them, thank you Cassidy! I wanted to address a point that was made about Yusuke's behavior – the fact he's been so rude to Kasumi. First of all, Yusuke has a reason to be wary of her, not just because she's a police officer. What he really does for a living is demon hunting, that isn't exactly something you would just come out and say to a cop, they'd lock you up in a crazy house. Secondly, Yusuke in the manga wasn't exactly the most law abiding citizen, he stole a lot of things and made a lot of trouble for people so you have to figure he probably had plenty of run ins with the police that didn't go so well. And lastly, Yusuke continues to be rude to her in more of a joking manner at this point, just to rile Kasumi up. I love Yusuke to death, if I had to choose between which character was my favorite, I would be hard pressed to decide between him and Hiei.

To ObsidianPhantom: I think your review is the BEST review I have ever received, so here's a shout out cause it put a huge smile on my face when I read it! Thank you!

Anyway, I hope the last chapter was alright, we are finally getting into plotty things. I've got all these plans for this story, I wish I could just sit around and write all day, but with Christmas coming up I'm going to be very busy, so sorry if there are any delays to updates and happy reading!

**Disclaimer: **Do not own it, will never own it, and I am not making any money by writing this (unfortunately).

**Warnings: **Violence, blood/gore, foul language, sexual /adult themes, Hiei in more awkward human outfits, and etc.

**. . .**

After my little outburst (okay, more like rampage) I had somehow made it into one of the armchairs and now I was sitting with my face buried in my hands completely lost. I never bothered to look up and I don't know how long I sat there before the whispering started. I heard Yusuke ask if I was crying in which Kazuma replied, "No, Kasumi doesn't cry." How right he was. I haven't cried since the night my parents died and I wasn't about to start now.

I heard more than saw someone throw the broken pieces of the chair I had ruined into the fire place, shortly after the warmth of the flames engulfed me but gave me no comfort. I listened to what was going on around me if only to avoid the thoughts barreling around inside my head threatening to drive me insane. Yusuke proceeded to question Kazuma about my lack of crying, like it was any of his business, and I heard my friend tell the black haired boy a story about a competition I had fought in two years ago.

I remembered that one well myself, both Keiko and Kazuma had shown up to support me and while I had won the match it hadn't been an easy victory. My opponent had snapped my arm practically in two after I had failed to dodge a rather well aimed kick. I tried to block but I probably would have been better off just taking the blow to the chest.

In order to continue to compete I had valiantly pretended nothing was wrong and fought that match, as well as the one that came after, with my arm shattered. I took home a trophy that year but my pride would someday spell my downfall. My arm had luckily healed properly but that didn't mean the next time it happened it would.

I can still remember Kazuma's face, when I had finished the last bout of the day, gathered my gear and went to join them in the stands. He was practically beaming, a smile a mile wide on his face that ended up short lived when he had given me a congratulatory slap to the back which jarred my broken arm. A pained cry had given me away and both he and Keiko had rushed me to the hospital to have it mended, berating me for my stupidity the entire trip. The point of this little story though, is that I hadn't cried, and to this day Kazuma found that too amazing to believe. I explained to him while having my arm reset that I _do not cry_ – that I had vowed I never would again. On the night my parents died I made a promise to myself: a promise that I would be strong for Hitomi. I was her rock and she was my light. That was just how it worked.

I had made sure to keep that promise, because I took it very seriously, even as a child. Other children in my classes at school had made up a game, 'How to get Kasumi to Cry' and every day there after I was bullied incessantly. I suppose it was one of the reasons everyone thought I was so weird, but I could not bring myself to care. Being picked on, or treated poorly, had never bothered me – it was just something I brushed off or dealt with in one way or another. If I couldn't brush it off I retaliated with anger instead of tears. My classmates grew to fear me and instead of being bullied people started to avoid me. Even the teachers had been wary of me, like I was a bomb about to go off at any second. They would whisper about me and then compare me to Hitomi – _they're twins, how can they be so different?_

I don't think people realize that even though we look almost exactly the same, that doesn't mean we _are _the same. Everyone just assumes identical twins like the same things, that we act the same, wear the same clothes: it's annoying. We are two different people – how hard is that to understand?

I brought my mind back to the present because someone's feet were swimming in my vision between my legs now and their closeness was making me uncomfortable. I couldn't tell whose they were, as the white socks weren't very telling, so I lifted my head to glare at whoever it was. To my utter astonishment it happened to be Shuichi and when he noticed he had my attention, he squatted down in front of me, bent at the knees so we were at eye level. Behind him, leaning against the mantle of the fire place was Hiei. His arms were crossed, a distant look in his eyes as he stared into the flames I assumed he had created.

I ignored Shuichi because something had just clicked in my brain – something that I should have known already, but hadn't for some reason. Hiei _wasn't human. _I don't know how I knew, but as I watched him and let my eyes roam over his form lit up by the roaring flames of the fire it was undeniable. His crimson eyes, trained on me now because he had sensed my staring, were a dead giveaway.

"Take off your hat Hiei-san…" I said.

Those same eyes narrowed into a scathing glare, but I wouldn't be fazed. Shuichi looked as if he might panic at any second, his eyes imploring me to shut up, but I wasn't one to listen when I had my mind set.

"Why should I grant that request?" Hiei said coldly.

"It wasn't a request," I snapped.

To my amazement (as well as the rest of the apartment's occupants) Hiei reached up and removed the ball cap, throwing it disdainfully into the flames behind him and I watched as they ate the cotton and polyester hungrily. It was nothing but ash within a matter of a few seconds so I dared to look away and take in what that one gesture had uncovered.

Before me stood a gorgeous man, with hair so inhuman not a single person on this earth could mistake him as anything but what he was – _a demon_, in all its glory. Spikey black locks, with sapphire shining brightly within them and bits of white spread around his fringe reached high towards my ceiling and his eyes, such a deep crimson, flickering from the bright orange fire created an image that made it hard for me to breathe. I could see a strange slit in his forehead, so thin it was barely noticeable, but I was observant, as was he because he noticed where I was looking rather quickly. Hiei reached into a pocket of his jeans, pulled out a long strip of white cloth and proceeded to tie it around his forehead, hiding the slit from view.

The color purple flashed through my mind briefly again and I wondered at the connection. I had a hard time taking my eyes off the man at this point and we stood in a stalemate, just staring at each other. I in wonder and some form of shock, Hiei with a look that was unmistakably disgust and then finally I managed to breathe out, "What kind are you?"

A chorus of gasps and excited mumbling rose up around the room, Hiei and I being the only ones who were not surprised by what I had asked. Though his face and eyes remained cold and distant, he answered me, "I am what they call a hiyoukai."

"A fire demon?" I repeat, too stunned to really understand what I just been told.

What he did next was probably meant more to scare me than anything – what he couldn't have guessed was that it _excited_ me. I was more than intrigued at this point, more than curious to know about these people and their culture. I could finally see what my Grandfather had always wished I could and its added link to Hitomi was more than I could ever hope for.

Was I afraid? _Yes_. Was I in shock? _Most definitely. _Did it matter? _Not in the slightest._ Especially as I watched in amazement, like a child attending a magic show, as Hiei created a ball of fire in his palm. It blazed even more brightly than the flames licking at the little logs in my fire place and I reached out a hand to touch it in curiosity. He snatched his palm back, clamping his fingers over the flame to extinguish it and when he opened them again I was stunned to see it hadn't burnt him. His palm was exactly the same as before, pink and calloused.

I released a shaky breath – I think I am finally ready for the barrage of explanations, the stories, and tall tales I was about to hear. I also have decided (now that I knew exactly what he was) that I sort of _respected _Hiei, if not full on liked him. That aura coming off him was still ominous, still cold and full of contempt if not hatred, but he had given me more of an explanation than anyone else had to date. He had shown a piece of himself to me, a private piece that not many people in this world probably knew of. I could respect that, _I would respect that._

A disturbing thought came to me then – _if Hiei wasn't human, did that mean they _all _weren't?_

Could I trust my friends? Or has our entire friendship been a lie? I felt my heart start to race again, anxiety encompassing me in an oppressive blanket and suddenly I was no longer ready to know about any of this. I headed for the door – my usual MO when I was upset. I grabbed my leather jacket on the way, pulling it on in one swoop and before I walked out I picked up my pistol, made sure the magazine was full, and then shoved it into the waist band of my jeans.

I planned to go after the accomplice – the red demon that had run away like a coward. What I didn't plan on was Hiei appearing in front of me and blocking the doorway like he had just stepped out of thin air. The only reason I knew he had moved at all (besides the fact he was now in front of me instead of behind) was because of the breeze that blew my hair wildly around my face. Of course, the logical explanation would have been an open window, but a quick assessment told me not a single one was.

I knew my eyes were as wide as saucers, I could feel it, and I couldn't help but mouth, "So fast…" with admiration ringing clearly in my voice. I couldn't believe it – _he was _so_ fast you couldn't even see him move._ It was truly one of the most amazing things I'd ever had the opportunity to witness and it took me a while to realize he wasn't about to let me leave.

I scowled, my pleasure at having seen something so _awesome_ long gone now that I knew I would have to argue my way out of my own apartment. "Get out of my way."

He didn't say I word, he just planted his feet and folded his arms over his chest again, his face carefully blank. An air of boredom surrounded him and this, more than him blocking my path, irritated me so much that I stomped my way over to him until I was only a hairs breath away from touching his chest. He was only an inch taller than me, which wasn't much of a difference and his sinister aura didn't faze me in the slightest.

I probably should be scared, if not completely terrified, but my reckless nature had reared its ugly head. I didn't really _know _what it meant to be a demon – they obviously had powers of their own and all the tales my Grandfather had spoken of imagined them as insanely strong. Insanely strong in a human perspective anyway – for all I knew Hiei was some lower level scumbag that liked to play with fire.

Then again…_he might not be._ It would be a rookie mistake, not to mention possibly a deadly one, to assume Hiei was some weakling. That didn't mean I was afraid of him anymore though. The unknown is what I feared the most – I knew what he was now and that had given me some relief and a lot of misplaced courage.

I puffed out my chest and gave him a look that I hoped was menacing, but his face remained unchanged. He was clearly unimpressed.

I switched to verbal abuse instead, "Listen asshole, I won't say it again – _get out of my way…_"

I went to grab his arm, perhaps to bodily move him, but it was one of the worst mistakes I have _ever _made – worse than hitting Yusuke in the family jewels and worse than fighting with a broken arm.

Hiei used that same speed against me, ripping my hand away from his body before I'd even had the chance to so much as poke him and had me turned around and pinned to the wall quicker than my eyes could follow. He had one hand wrapped around my throat, the other was squeezing my wrist hard enough to cause instant bruising and the back of my already abused head had smashed into the wall on impact. I was seeing stars, my vision had gone fuzzy around the edges, and as I struggled against his hold a memory began to surface.

It was foggy at first; hard to tell what I was actually remembering, but this same scenario had occurred before…though it was difficult to remember when. There was one glaringly obvious difference though – the attacker. I could recall a hulking, massive man pinning me against a brick wall in the middle of the night…after a moment, when it became a little clearer, I realized it wasn't a man that had been attacking me but a demon…_a big ugly one_.

During this little distraction, Hiei's hold had tightened; I could feel his fingers digging into the flesh of my neck and I ceased my struggling. He looked a little surprised, my actions unclear to him, because in his little world he probably assumed most people would try to escape him. His eyes were locked with mine and I did everything I could to convey to him that I wasn't afraid, that I was stubborn and strong, that anything he did to me I would do ten times worse to him. I watched crimson narrow curiously; saw him lean in just a little further as if he wanted to memorize every aspect of my face, but his eyes never left mine. Something unspoken remained between us and I felt his hold loosen, his hand just resting now instead of squeezing.

I noticed he was abnormally warm – I had always liked being warm. Summer was my favorite season, the hotter the days the better. Standing practically pressed against Hiei, was like standing in a sauna without the steam. I guess I might have been enjoying it, though it was hard to admit, and I attributed this to why I hadn't felt my skin burning beforehand.

Everywhere that Hiei touched was on fire, quite literally, as he left bright red burns not much different from the palm shaped one I already had on my arm. If my neck wasn't currently smoldering I probably would have screamed – it was more painful than having my arm broken and even though it lasted such a short amount of time, because Hiei had hastily snatched his hands back, the damage had been done.

I would take a broken nose from Yusuke any day over the pain Hiei had just put me through. His hands had truly been white hot, like someone had place coals against my skin and I knew I must at least have second degree burns on me now, like the handprint I already had wasn't enough.

I slid down the wall, sinking to the floor. I reached up a shaky hand to assess the damage but one touch had me hissing in pain. This was the second time in a _week_ I had been injured fairly seriously. _No…_make that the third time…as I remembered the scrapes down my legs. Not to mention, what was up with these men trying to strangle me anyway? Couldn't they at least go for some other part of my body? Did my neck just scream, 'Squeeze me!' to these people?

Hiei was still standing in front of me and he looked just as stupefied by the turn of events as I did. I recovered a little quicker than he did though.

I lashed out with my right leg, hoping to sweep him quite literally off his feet, but he blurred and disappeared before I even came close. He reappeared several feet away with a look so smug on his face that I could have killed him for it.

All of this had happened in a very short span of time, even though it had felt much longer for me, because it took the rest of the room a few minutes to realize what had happened. Then chaos ensued once more.

Kazuma was at my side in an instant, helping me up off the floor and I allowed him to, grateful for the support because I didn't know if my legs could hold my weight at the moment. I had my hands wrapped around his forearms as he lifted me and he didn't let me go once I was finally on my feet. I looked up to see what the issue was but Kazuma's face had turned absolutely terrifying. I don't think I have ever seen him so angry – not with me, not with anyone.

It changed his normally kind features into something dark and disturbing and I was glad the glare wasn't directed at me, but Hiei. In fact, most everyone was glaring at the short man now. If I wasn't so angry I might have felt sorry for him.

Another set of hands landed on my back, long tapered fingers rubbing soothing circles into my skin and it caused me to shiver violently and shirk away from the touch. The hands followed and I heard Shuichi ask Kazuma to let me go so he could tend to the burns. My friend listened, letting Shuichi take me away so he could direct me to a seat on the couch. Kazuma stomped off to confront Hiei, joining Yusuke who had already walked over to accost the man as well.

I wanted to watch the outcome, but Keiko and Shuichi were too busy asking stupid questions like "Are you alright?" and "How badly does it hurt?" so I was forced to pay attention to them. Of course, it became infinitely more interesting than the ensuing fight that was about to occur in my living room when I watched Shuichi pull several seeds out of his hair and grow them into fully mature plants in the palm of his hand.

"You too?!" I croaked out, my voice hoarse and very unlike how I usually sound.

He smiled kindly, "Yes and I am sorry you have to find out this way, but these herbs will make a salve that will soothe the burns on your skin."

"Will it heal them though Shuichi?" Keiko asked.

"Yes, given some time, it should make the burns fade completely. I will make the salve and soak some bandages with it. It would be best if it was left on for an extended period, so there won't be any scaring."

He walked away to the kitchen, sparing the three men locked in a heated argument full of heavy whispers only the barest of glances, and giving me the opportunity to turn in my seat so I could watch them. Kazuma was the loudest, his whispering not really quiet at all, but Yusuke and Hiei's words I could barely make out. I heard a lot of, "What the fuck was that?" and "Way to be an asshole Hiei," from Yusuke but Kazuma was seriously pissed off. He was in the process of calling Hiei just about every horrible name in the book, but the little demon was too busy trying to explain to Yusuke what exactly had happened.

…I'd like to know that myself. Also, note to self – do not try to touch Hiei without his permission _ever_ again.

"Kasumi-chan?" I was hard pressed to take my attention away from the three men standing by our door, but Keiko had sounded upset, maybe a little pained even, so I reluctantly turned back around in my seat.

"Yeah?" I croaked.

She fidgeted next to me for a moment, and then began to speak. "Kas…" she rarely called me that unless she was truly upset, "I'm so sorry…about all of this. We didn't want to drag you into it, we really, truly didn't."

"You didn't though Keiko-chan, it just kind of happened."

She looked down at her feet, her hands resting dejectedly in her lap. "You don't know that…what if it is our fault?"

"It isn't," I said firmly, because I truly believed that. I wish they had told me sooner, before I had been attacked by those creatures and I was still thoroughly confused, but I didn't blame a single person here for what had happened.

When Keiko began to cry, her sobs tiny and quiet, all I could do was wrap my uninjured arm around her and try to ignore the pain I was in so I wouldn't make her guilt worse. The heated whispers behind us ceased and a few seconds later all three boys came over to join us. Yusuke shot me a look that clearly said, "What the hell is up with her?" but I just shook my head and leaned into my friend just that much more. It was obvious that it was Yusuke's fault she was involved with this sort of stuff – _demons_ and monsters. I could put two and two together easily enough and come up with the reason why my friends had hidden him from me and me from him.

His life was dangerous…for whatever reason he had somehow gotten roped into this strange underworld of what I had always thought were mythical creatures. But now here I was, sitting in my apartment where two very real demons happened to also be and that realization was enough to make my stomach churn. I was shaking, I could feel it and I was sure if Keiko was not also trembling thanks to her sobs she would have felt it too.

Even though I was attempting to comfort my friend, I think I took more from holding her than she did. My shock was wearing off…and now I was scared out of my mind. What did this mean for me? What did any of this have to do with Hitomi? How is something like this even _real_? It was impossible, all of it. If my Grandfather hadn't been such an adamant believer in the supernatural I might have gone and checked myself into a loony bin. It was his stories, no…his e_xperiences_, which made my mind up. My Grandfather wasn't crazy…_and neither was I._

I steeled myself, a resolve so strong washing over me that I believed I could handle anything at this point. I didn't care about the burns marring my body, the bruises, the fresh scars I would soon have because I had remembered what that blue skinned man had said – this was about Hitomi. If I had to associate with _demons _to gain any insight into her case than I would do what was necessary. If the frail, feminine Keiko could handle being around these people, than so could I.

Of course…that still didn't save my friends from the verbal lashing they would soon receive, oh no.

Shuichi had hustled back into the room, a bowl and bandages in hand (did he just magically pull them out of thin air or what? Could demons do stuff like that too?) and before he settled down next to me he shot Hiei a dark look. The spikey haired demon had gone to sit on the window sill, staring out into the dark and valiantly ignoring us.

As Shuichi set to work soaking the bandages in a green and foul smelling concoction, I did what everyone else in the room probably wished they could – picked a fight with Hiei.

"Oi, asshole, you going to tell me why you just freaked out on me?" At first I don't think he realized I was addressing him, either that or he was determined to ignore me. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried again.

"I'm talking to you fire demon."

He never turned around, but I saw the reflection of his eyes move so they were directed at me. "It was a mistake."

He left it at that, no explanation and I had a feeling I wasn't going to get one out of him no matter how hard I tried, so I turned to my next best bet – Yusuke.

"What's he talking about?" I ask, with a nod in Hiei's general direction.

Shuichi had started to place the bandages around my wrist, the salve stung and I was forced to bite back a hiss but after a little while it began to cool and soothe. I sighed with relief and tried to give my undivided attention to Yusuke as he began to explain where Hiei hadn't bothered.

You could tell he was still angry, as he sat with his arms crossed over his chest and his chocolate brown eyes had darkened considerably, "He told us that it was an accident…which is hard to believe."

Kazuma snorted off to Yusuke's opposite side, they had both occupied the armchairs so each was sitting off to the side of the couch. "An accident, yeah right."

Kazuma was stewing in a suppressed rage, just about anything could set him off at this point and I think even Hiei knew that, because he kept his mouth shut even as my friend berated him. "That pipsqueak has never lost control of his powers in all the years I have known him except for that one time at the Dark Tournament, why the hell would it happen now? He did it on purpose!"

"Kazuma…" Shuichi was left holding a sopping bandage, as he eyed his friend in barely veiled surprise.

I was more interested in this 'Dark Tournament' thing than Hiei supposedly having full control over all his powers.

"What's a 'Dark Tournament'?" I asked.

Everyone went silent, Yusuke coughed, and then Kazuma came up with an excuse, "It's not really something we like to talk about…"

"Then why did you even bring it up?"

"To make a point!"

"Well, I want to know what it is!" I batted Shuichi's hand away as he tried to wrap the bandage around my neck, probably with the intent to shut me up.

"You don't need to know everything about my life, Kasumi!" Kazuma yelled.

Now _that_ did shut me up. I was instantly hurt, so hurt in fact that I forwent any further treatment of my burns so I could stand, stomp over to Kazuma and punch him so hard in the face that the armchair, along with his body, flew over backwards.

I stood over him, my anger so palpable that no one dared to try and stop me. "How dare you, I thought you were my goddamn friend for the past three years and in one week I've found out you've done nothing but lie to me!"

He tried to sit up, his face which was once contorted in anger was now full of sadness as my voice shook and my hands clenched into fists. I wouldn't cry…but I wished I could right now. I kicked him back over, because nothing he could say would make me feel any better now.

"I've told you everything about myself Kazuma! I trusted you! I should have known better!"

The anger was clearly back as he finally managed to pull himself up from the fallen arm chair, "Oh, you've told me everything huh? What about that goddamn scar on your back!?"

I faltered, fear lancing me just as quick as the rage had. I couldn't open my mouth to answer, not even when he turned triumphant, a look so smug he could have given Hiei a run for his money.

I don't talk about the scar, hell; I even avoid thinking about it if I can. It is the one and only thing I have never shared with my two friends…but I believe tonight I should break that. I wanted to make a point but also let Kazuma know that I am trustworthy enough for him to be able to tell me everything there is to know about this demon business. I no longer wanted to be left in the dark. I wanted to be included. It just wasn't fair they had hidden it from me so long…it might have taken me a while to truly believe them if they had told me, but I would have come around eventually.

"You want to know so badly?" I know I caught him by surprise, because his eyes had widened, "Take a seat. It's going to be a long story."

I sat back on the couch, Kazuma righted the chair, and then I began.

When Hitomi and I had first moved out of our grandparents I had met a man…he was several years older than me, handsome, and at the time I had thought he was a kind hearted soul. When I wasn't working or training, I was with him. Hitomi had sensed there was something wrong with the guy from the get go, she had warned me to stay away from him, but I refused. This was the one and only experience it took for me to never trust a person fully again and it had taught me to listen to my instincts better.

We dated for several months – he was a martial artist, though he participated only in Judo, and we had a lot in common. I began to leave Hitomi alone so I could spend nights with him at his apartment in the heart of the city. I partied a lot with him, met a lot of interesting people, and spent more time drunk than sober. He had been my first real relationship and I gave up everything to be with him. I ignored Hitomi; I ignored my duties as a Granddaughter and the heir of a dojo so I could be with this man.

Then one night he took me somewhere new, he told me it was club that had just opened but when we got there the place was desolate, just a dark, empty old warehouse. I knew something was wrong, that I had made a horrible mistake in following him, but I let him lead my inside anyway. He knocked me out…from there I don't remember what happened, but I woke up in that same warehouse tied to the ceiling and floor by my hands and feet.

Two new men had shown up, both of them dressed in black and laughing at me as I struggled to free myself. Than my boyfriend came back…in his hands was a knife and at first I thought he meant to free me, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

I watched in horror as the two new men disrobed, standing before me in their disgusting nudity and I struggled worse thinking I was about to be raped and there was an even better chance I was also going to be murdered. They laughed and laughed and laughed, that is what I remember the most – that laughter.

They never touched me…but my boyfriend (his name was Hideki, but that isn't too important to the story) on the other hand did...

He proceeded to explain why I was there, why he had picked me specifically. The two men who had joined him got off on torture and had paid a good amount of money to be able to witness it. Hideki had been looking for a girl strong enough to put up with an extreme amount of pain…he hadn't planned on dating me but it had been fun while it lasted, right? He was just happy to have gotten a piece of me before he ruined my body. And finally, he had chosen me because I was young, lived on my own, and had no parents to worry about me.

He told me all this while deliberately sharpening his knife…what he didn't know was that I wasn't stupid enough to let him kill me. I had loosened one of the ropes around my wrist while none of them were paying attention, slowly pulling it at with my fingers until if I tugged just enough my arm should fall free. I began to work on the other one as he circled me, coming to a stop behind me where he took the knife and sliced my shirt in half. I was left bare to the world as he cut the sleeves so it would float to the floor below me. My pants might have been next if I didn't take that opportunity to tug my arm free and make short work of the second rope.

He scrambled, grabbing me around the waist to try and keep my in place but I elbowed him hard in the forehead, knocked him off balance and then untied the last knot on my other arm. I tumbled to the ground, landing hard on my face and the two naked men came forth so they could pin me down. If my legs weren't still tied I might have gained the upper hand in time…but I was not so lucky.

Hideki rallied, his voice turned cold and full of hatred as he berated me cruelly and mocked me for trying to escape. A boot smashed into the small of my back, knocked the wind out of me and then pressed down harder to keep me in place. He ran the cold steel of the blade down my spine, making goose bumps rise up all over my skin – I knew what was going to happen next. I bit my lip, buried my face into the concrete, and waited it out.

It didn't take long. The knife was so sharp it cut through me like butter and blood began to run down my sides almost instantly, pooling onto the floor and wetting my front as it ran underneath me. It was a searing, blinding kind of pain, to have a knife driven into the supple flesh of your back. It hurt so badly that it became near impossible for me to keep my screams at bay. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but as his dirty boot smashed into my wound, I couldn't help it.

It came out as blood curdling as any woman's inside a horror movie and then all I could see was red. I became so angry that I can't even remember what I did to the two naked morons that had them running from the building with blood dripping down their faces and tears in their eyes. Then I turned to Hideki, adrenaline making me forget the blood pouring from inside me, taking my life with it and the pain I was in. He had backed away, something in my face making him horrified of me, until he was pressed against one of the concrete walls.

It was an easy task, taking the knife from his hands…using it against him just as he did me.

Everyone in my apartment now sat with bated breath, even Hiei had turned around on his perch to hear the story, and I faltered once again…I couldn't tell them the rest. What would they think of me if I did?

"So…what happened? Don't tell me you let the guy go!" Yusuke remarked.

"I..." I stopped again, so lost in the past and the feelings it had evoked in me I didn't think it would be possible for me to continue at all.

A large hand landed on my shoulder, Kazuma was standing next to the couch now trying to comfort me, Shuichi had finished treating my burns some time ago, and Keiko had a hand clapped over her mouth and even more tears in her eyes than she had before.

The only people in the room who didn't look sorry for me were Hiei and Yusuke…I don't know if I ever told them how grateful I was for that…but it was more than they would ever know. I wasn't telling the story for pity. I wasn't telling it for fun. The next part would probably make them hate me…but with Kazuma's strong hand pressed into my shoulder I felt brave enough to finish.

"…I killed him. I took the knife from him…and I stabbed him in the heart with it."

I heard Keiko draw in a sharp intake of breath; Shuichi hung his head, his eyes clouded over. Hiei looked impressed, if not downright proud (he's so strange…), Yusuke looked satisfied, believing Hideki had deserved it…and Kazuma, well, nothing changed. He only squeezed my shoulder a little harder.

Swallowing, Shuichi looked up so he could ask, "And how did you manage to become a police officer…with a murder on your record?"

"It's not on my record…" And this is where my love and trust for my sister can really be shown.

So I explained that after I had killed Hideki, I was left standing in a pool of blood with a body at my feet. I panicked because what could I possibly do now? I made the decision to go to the police, turn myself in, but explain that I had done it in self-defense. I called my sister so I could speak to her one last time before I was arrested.

She could hear that I was scared, upset, and panicky after only a few short words. She demanded to know where I was…what had happened. I told Hitomi everything throughout our lives…and this time wasn't any different. When I managed to choke out exactly what had happened she told me to wait and then hung up on me.

Getting rid of your ex-boyfriend's dead body isn't exactly the best choice for a sister bonding experience…but that one night made us closer than ever. We never spoke of the incident again…she brought me home, stitched up my back (thus the scar, because it was not anywhere near professional) and we curled up together in her room that night. I will forever be thankful she was there…

"So there you have it…I'm a murderer and Hitomi is an accomplice…turn me in if you want." I said spitefully to Shuichi.

"I'm not going to turn you in, what you did was justified and your sister must have been very brave to assist you in such a manner."

I couldn't look at him anymore…or any of them for that matter, so I hung my head and let my hair hide me from view. I wasn't a good cop…I tried so hard to forget what I had done…to believe I had done the world a favor by ridding it of such a disgusting human being. I wished so hard I could believe that.

"Hey…what are you doing?!" It was Kazuma and he sounded rather confused as well as angry. Before I could look up to see what I could have possibly done just sitting here, a pair of hands threaded themselves through my hair and lifted my head so I was no longer looking at my feet.

Hiei stood before me, his face perfectly impassive and as I searched for answers as to why he was suddenly being so kind, I noticed a strange purple light glowing beneath his headband…what could that possibly be?

I furrowed my brows and pleaded with my eyes for him to explain what he was doing. He didn't seem like the touchy feely type. His hands wrapped themselves around the crown of my head, my hair still caught between his fingers, and then he spoke. "Do not be ashamed of saving your own life."

I tried to look around the room, my confusion so evident that I wanted to know if I was the only one freaked out by his strange change in behavior. I was greeted with wide eyes all the way around; Kazuma even had his mouth hanging open in shock. The only one who did not look too surprised was Keiko…she had more of a calculating…scary kind of look on her face. Scary because I knew what it meant – it was the same face she had made the first time I'd introduced her to Ren. If she seriously thought she would be able to hook Hiei and me up than she wasn't as smart as I had always thought she was.

He released me soon after, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants and pretending for the entire world to see that he had not just done something so out of the ordinary. My heart was racing…I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. I watched him go back to his perch on the window sill and there was a long moment of silence where everyone just sat too stunned to speak.

Then Shuichi cleared his throat, breaking the spell. "I believe we have other matters to deal with…such as giving Kasumi-san a true explanation and I also think it is time we called Koenma."

Yusuke and Kazuma groaned, "Come on man, do we really have to?" Yusuke whined.

"I think it would be for the best, especially because the Reikai is obviously involved."

Yusuke just looked resigned, before rising from his chair and pulling what looked like a powder compact from his pants pocket. "I'll be back in a minute."

He walked off to Keiko's bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Kazuma stuffed himself onto the couch beside me, forcing Keiko and Shuichi to have to squeeze together until Shuichi gave up and moved into Yusuke's vacated chair, an air of annoyance surrounding him.

I turned to Kazuma, "So, now that I've told you everything about me…you think you can explain the Dark Tournament?"

He pursed his lips and looked ready to argue, but Hiei snapped at him from the window, "Just tell her you oaf so we will not have to listen to her whine!"

Apparently his unusual moment of kindness (more like weakness) was long gone and forgotten. If I wasn't interested in hearing what Kazuma had to say I might have retaliated, but it really wasn't worth it.

Kazuma sighed in defeat, "Fine. It's a martial arts tournament…but for demons."

I was confused, "Then why do you know about it?"

"I participated in it…so did Urameshi, Hiei, and Kurama."

"Who's Kurama?"

Shuichi chuckled from the chair, "That is my true name, but you may continue to call me whatever you like."

"Do you mean your demon name?" I questioned.

"Yes, I suppose you can look it at that way."

I scrunched my face up, "I think I like Kurama better." I announced.

"Then please feel free to call me that from now on, but only amongst this group."

I nodded, still thoroughly lost, but happy I was finally getting some answers. But then I righted my train of thought, forgot about the fact Shuichi (Err…Kurama) has two names, and remembered that Kazuma had said _he _had also participated in a tournament _full of freakin' demons. _

"Kazuma…how did you get into the tournament?" I hoped his answer wouldn't be what I was dreading – that he was a demon too and had been lying all along.

He hummed for a moment, trying to think of the best explanation no doubt, "Well, Urameshi was invited as a special guest and he needed a whole team. I wasn't going to let him go alone and get all the glory."

Hiei snorted derisively from across the room, "You lost every fight you entered into."

"Shut the hell up you midget! I did not!"

I wasn't relieved just yet, "But…you are human…right?"

Kazuma made a face, "Yes, why would you even ask that? Do I look like a weirdo to you?"

Relieved now I could only laugh hysterically, losing my breath and probably making everyone in the room think I was nuts but if Kazuma was human, that meant Keiko was as well. I was so busy trying to stop my insane giggling that I never noticed Yusuke enter the room again or the fact that he wasn't alone when he had been just moments before.

It was Keiko's surprised shout of, "Oh Botan, when did you get here?" that finally caught my attention.

Yusuke had come back from Keiko's room with the blue haired girl in tow. After all the weird things I had seen today this didn't surprise me too much. I did wonder how she had managed to get in, because the window was three stories up and impossible to climb up to and I would have noticed if she snuck in through the front door. Keiko noticed my distress and explained.

"Botan is a Shinigami, so she flies around on an oar. She must have come in through my bedroom window."

A Shinigami…that made sense, she did have the aura of death surrounding her and a ferry girl's main job was to transport souls to wherever it was they went after someone died. Shinigami had appeared in many of my Grandfather's stories…of course, like most people, I believed they would be some scary tall man in a cloak carrying a scythe. Botan looked nothing like that, she had a bubbly, pleasant attitude and currently she was wearing a bright pink kimono with no scythe in sight.

Yusuke and Botan each took a seat at the kotatsu but, instead of the usual chipper smile Botan seemed to have stuck to her face, was a grim line – she was going to be all business this time around.

"It's nice to see you again Kasumi-san, I wish it was under better circumstances."

I just nodded, waiting for her to get to the point. I still had not received any real explanation for the events that had occurred here tonight but I hoped Botan would be the one to tell me _something_.

"Unfortunately Koenma-dono could not be here, so he has sent me in his stead."

I stopped her there, "Who is this Koenma?"

Several people tried to tell me at once, it got to the point I was forced to hold my hands up in surrender, "Shut up! One person at a time please!"

Before anyone else could jump at the chance to tell me, Yusuke got there first, "He's the diaper wearing idiot that runs the daily workings of the Reikai."

"...So he's a god then?" I didn't know anything about the diaper wearing part, but I did know that heaven and hell was ruled over by a god called Enma and apparently this Koenma person…I suppose one God can't handle it all, as ridiculous as that sounds.

"Yusuke, don't be so rude! Koenma is the son of Enma-dono and he takes care of all the souls that enter the Reikai. He is the ruler of the judgment gate."

Botan smiled fondly, as if the very thought of him made her lighter, and I had to resist an eye-roll. She was obviously very devoted to her leader (boss?) and that kind of infatuation was gross to me. I respected a lot of the old martial arts masters and I respected the higher ups in the police force, but you would never catch me groveling or salivating over someone, no matter how awesome or influential they may be.

"Okay…so what does this guy have to do with anything?"

Botan paused, that grim line reappearing where her lips were once turned up, "Kasumi-san…I'm afraid you have become involved in something that Koenma-dono did not expect to happen for several centuries.

"I wish I could explain it better, but he has asked that you are kept unaware for now. The gate to purgatory is very serious business and he wants only the Reikai to handle it."

I couldn't believe it, I was going to be shut out again and this time it actually had something to do with me. This wasn't right and I told Botan so, "You can't do that. This is about me and Hitomi, you have to tell me."

"No, actually, I don't. I'm sorry, but I have orders that I must follow, as does Yusuke. For the time being, we will have one of the boys keep an eye on you and make sure you are safe."

As does Yusuke, huh? I didn't voice the thought out loud, but one flick of his eyes to mine and I knew he would tell me what was going on. He had no reason to keep it a secret and our little exchange was not witnessed by anyone else…anyone other than Hiei that was. I could see the demon eyeing us both from his perch on the windowsill, he was being sneaky about it, but I was too observant not to notice and my eyes seemed to naturally stray to him every so many seconds anyway.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to continue protesting (more like demanding information) my cell phone went off. The tune I had set for the ringer told me it was Ren calling and I contemplated not answering it. I could see it flashing over by the door, where a tiny table and my poppy bowl sat innocently with the phone inside it. It stopped ringing, everyone turned back to me at once, but almost immediately it went off again. This wasn't just Ren calling to talk – this was work.

I rose, raced across the room, and grabbed up the device before he could hang up again, "Moshi, Mosh?"

"Kasumi, its Ren. We have a situation and the Captain has called for all hands on deck." Ah Ren, always straight to the point aren't you?

"What's going on?" Even as I questioned him I was pulling my military style black boots on and my gun holster, and then I wandered off to the closet under our stairs to dig out my police jacket, uniform, and badge.

"There's a major hostage situation in a big office building downtown. They've even sent in SWAT teams but they need backup. Don't worry about being in full uniform; just wear your badge, gun, and jacket."

I could see the group of demons and humans staring at me from across the room, Kazuma had sat up a little straighter as if being able to watch my every move would give him any kind of information what so ever. I held up a finger, telling them to wait a moment while I got ready.

"Alright, are you coming to get me?"

"That's why I called. Be ready when I get there." And then he hung up on me.

I flipped the phone shut, shoved it into one of my coat pockets and then pulled my badge off the shelf in the closet and pinned the gold medal to my chest. While I was disappointed that I had lost my chance of hearing more about this demon business, I was also happy to have something to distract me for a while. If they told me too much at once, I didn't know how well I would handle it…I didn't want to stay to find out either.

I turned to my friends, "I'm sorry but I have to go. There's something serious going down at an office building in the business district."

"Will you be alright?" Keiko asked, always the worrier.

"Sweet, can we go?!" Yusuke blurted out before I could even answer Keiko, who was wringing her hands nervously and looked on the verge of tears again.

I answered them both, "Yes I will be fine and no, you can't go baka."

I wandered over so I could pull Keiko into a reassuring hug which Kazuma joined in on not even a second later. They both squeezed me to the point I practically couldn't breathe.

"Okay guys, it's not like I'm dying or something." I laughed, disengaging myself from their vice like grips.

"You don't know that," Kazuma said.

"I'm not going to die Kazu, please don't worry." I patted my friend on the arm, because I was a bit too short to properly pat his shoulder when he was standing at his full height.

I left them then, only stopping so I could say one last thing before I headed out the door, "Don't think this lets you off from explaining everything to me though."

I wagged a finger at them, smiled, and left. I couldn't know what was about to happen…what kind of situation I end up getting myself stuck into, but in one night I would discover that while demons are most certainly evil…_it doesn't hurt to have a few as your allies_.

**. . .**

**A/N: **So sorry it has taken so long to get his chapter out! I actually injured myself at work, sliced my finger open with a very sharp knife and had to get stitches. The doctor made me wear this stupid splint that made it impossible to type. I also kind of hate this chapter…it certainly isn't my favorite but we will get into more action-y like things in the next one. Let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!


	8. One Hell of a Day

**A/N: **Hello again! I contemplated writing this chapter in Hiei's POV but I think I will save that for later, because Kasumi is about to get into some crazy shit. Excuse me if this chapter goes out late, I'm sick, the holidays are upon us, and I work fulltime now. I write when I can, which isn't very often, unfortunately. I hope this chapter is okay, let me know your thoughts and happy reading!

Shout-out for the awesome reviews I've been getting! Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own YYH!

**Warnings: **The same as other chapters – violence, swearing, blood/gore, sexual/adult themes, etc. M rated for a reason basically. Enjoy!

**. . .**

"Ren, what are we going to do?" I whispered the question as quietly as I could but it still echoed around us, making me cringe and snap my mouth shut.

My partner tried to shift around so he could face me, but his weight caused the metal beneath us to groan and bow. He ceased his movement instantly and clutched his pistol just a little tighter within his hand. Ren didn't often get scared and he was putting on a good show for me right now, but it was the little things that gave him away.

"Has the bleeding stopped?" I pretended not to notice that he hadn't answered my question, because he had no answer and even I knew that.

"Y-yeah…I think so." Ren was talking about the bullet graze on my thigh, the button up blouse I had been wearing earlier in the evening was now being used as a makeshift bandage, ripped into strips and tied around my leg.

That left me with nothing but a spaghetti strap, skin tight tank-top I had worn underneath it and the pair of jeans I'd worn out on our date. My police issued jacket was lost somewhere down below and there was no chance in hell I was going to get it.

I should probably back track a little here – currently Ren and I are stuck in an air duct on the fourth floor of an eight floor office building in the business district of Tokyo. We had climbed up here to hide and so far the plan has been successful. I was curled up sideways; my knees bent and arms resting at my sides. In my right hand was my pistol, the clip half empty and I had lost what little ammo I had managed to bring with my police jacket on the second floor of the building.

Remember the call I had gotten earlier? Yeah, well the hostage situation has turned into something a thousand times worse. When I arrived on the scene with Ren the Captain had sent us in almost immediately because they had lost communication with the SWAT team and several other officers who had gone in before them. There were multiple people inside, as one whole floor of the office building had still been open when the group of psychos had broken in.

The Captain sent us in as a team, with three other men from a different precinct. All three had been killed upon entering the building, Ren and I had only escaped because we had not been stupid enough to run straight inside. We had snuck in instead, letting our other team members believe they could and would receive all the glory for rescuing the hostages. We tried to stop them…we really did, but nothing can really stop stupidity once it's already imbedded into someone's head. I felt horrible for leaving them behind…even though there was nothing we could do. I suppose that second of hesitation is how I managed to get shot in the first place. I was lucky it was only a graze, but it hurt enough to make me limp and had bled profusely at first.

Given the situation Ren had ignored my new injuries (Hiei's burns) only questioning me with his eyes and when I refused to answer he didn't bother trying to force one out of me.

We had entered into the first floor, skipping the basement where there seemed to be a lot of activity from what I had observed as we tried to sneak around. We made it to the second floor, which is where the rest of our team had sprinted to, to find them dead…but not in the way we had suspected. We had soon discovered that there weren't any hostages either…that _everyone_ was dead. The bodies were torn to pieces, mutilated, and tossed around like they had been put through a wood chipper – civilians and cops alike. I could make out several of the uniforms, many men and women from the SWAT team, several from our own precinct. There were even more civilians, the office workers who had been caught in the fray because they had been trying to escape.

There wasn't a single one still alive…Ren and I were the only members of the police force left. We both came to the realization that the Captain wouldn't risk anymore men, that we were the last resort. The officers outside were stuck in a stalemate, waiting it out.

Back to the present we are still in the air duct, trying to be as quiet as possible so we do not attract any attention. Once in a while you here the pounding of feet down below, someone yelling in a language neither of us can understand. They're looking for us…

"Kasumi…" Ren turned his head as best he could so he was facing me, "what are those things?"

_That_ had been the question I was dreading. I had discovered within the first few minutes inside the building that what we are dealing with was as far from human as they come. They were the same lizard-men that had attacked me earlier on in the evening, all different skin colors, all scaly, with tails and horns. While it was nice to know I hadn't gone crazy, because Ren could see them too, the situation was pretty dire. Ren knew nothing about demons…and I had only truly learned of them tonight.

Would guns even work against them? Would I be able to fight my way out of this? Or was I going to end up like one of those countless mutilated bodies on the first two floors of the building?

Knowing I was taking too long to answer, I decided to lie, "I have no idea…they don't look human."

The look on his face clearly stated 'no shit Sherlock' and it was unappreciated. If we didn't need to be deathly silent I would punch him.

I watched him swallow, his eyes looking me up and down, searching for something. Then they narrowed, "You do know something."

"How the hell would I know anything?"

"Because you're not as freaked out by it as you should be."

Fucking-A this man would be the death of me, "Yeah, well neither are you!"

"Maybe they drugged us, you know, sent something out through the air system?"

"So you think we're hallucinating?" If I could get him to believe that it would save me a lot of explaining.

"It would make sense…I mean…they're giant talking lizards with guns Kasumi."

I had found that odd myself…that demons had guns and though I hadn't told Ren, I came to the conclusion that they were picking them up from the dead police officers and using them against us. Apparently they're not as stupid as they look.

"But I don't feel any different…" I say, even though it might put an inkling of doubt in Ren's mind.

"You don't necessarily have to feel anything, they could be using some odorless and tasteless hallucinogenic."'

"I guess you could be right but – "I was interrupted as Ren clapped a hand over my mouth, telling me with his eyes to stay quiet as voices were heard down below.

I stilled, letting my body stiffen on instinct and Ren carefully removed his hand from my face so we could both listen. From what I could hear, there were two men below us, both speaking in Japanese so we could understand them. They had stopped almost directly underneath our hiding space and I watched as Ren leaned over as far as he could without making any noise so he could spy out of the grate we had crawled through. I strained my ears just a little harder so I could catch exactly what they were saying.

"Has anyone found the girl yet? How convenient for us that she would show up here."

The second man chuckled, "She must be stupid."

"I wouldn't underestimate her; Kiru said she took down Rue no problem."

"Yeah well, Rue was a weakling. It's no wonder the boss decided to kill him off."

The sound of sniffling came then, "Do you smell that? Human…"

"The scent of human is everywhere in this place, it's impossible to pick one out from the other. All humans smell the same to me – disgusting."

"Yes…but this seems fresher. They must have come through here recently."

Ren shot me an alarmed look and I could see a plan starting to form in his head. I quickly shook my head no, telling him not to be stupid because he had no idea what he was dealing with. He pursed his lips, annoyed, but placated for now. He went back to spying on the two men.

I heard the clicking of a lighter, and then the scent of cigarette smoke filtered up through the vent.

"Oi, where'd you get those?"

"Stole them off one of those humans that came in with the guns."

"Give me one!"

"No!"

The sound of a struggle commenced and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. While they might have been smart enough to steal the guns off our dead comrades I had obviously given them too much credit. The fight over the cigarettes went on for a while, until a third voice joined the fray and yelled in that weird language we couldn't understand.

"Sorry sir!" The two men chorused and then I heard the pounding of feet as they moved on to a different location.

I opened my mouth to speak but Ren held up a hand, signaling that the new person was still below. Ren's eyebrows had drawn down over his eyes and this worried me, he leaned over the grate a little more to get a better view but instantly regretted it.

"Move Kasumi! GO!"

I didn't question him; I crawled with all the speed I could, Ren right behind me trying to get me to go faster. I could hear the sound of metal being torn and ripped apart behind us. The grate that we had been looking through was wrenched from its place and I heard it get thrown aside somewhere down below. I kept going, trying not to look back.

A clawed hand stopped me in my tracks; it shot up through the metal, missing me by mere inches. I skirted around it but it followed us, trying to skewer me every so many feet. We came to a bend in the ventilation system and I took it, trying to find somewhere else to hide. I heard Ren cry out behind me and stopped for a moment but he pushed against my back, urging me to continue on and ignore him.

"What happened?" I asked, breathless as I crawled all the more faster.

"It got me, just a flesh wound, keep going!"

I took another bend, trying to lose our pursuer, and then came across a vent that went straight upward, more than likely leading to another floor. I stopped, took one look at Ren and when he nodded I wedged myself into the hole, spreading out my hands and feet so I could shimmy up it. He followed close behind and I have never been more grateful for my training because the stamina it took to climb that tall ass vent was ridiculous.

In what felt like hours, but what had really only been minutes, I reached the top. I stuck an arm down so I could haul Ren's ass up through the hole and then I began to crawl again. When I got to another grate in the vent I peered carefully down below.

"All clear," I said. I was looking down into an empty meeting room, where a long table with rolling chairs sat innocently. I listened carefully for any noise of pursuit but there was none.

"I think we lost him." I was still looking down through the grate, just to be sure but when Ren still hadn't answered me I turned my attention towards him.

He was curled into a ball, a grimace of pain etched across his face as he peeled his shirt away from his stomach. What he had said was only a flesh wound; in actuality was a deep, ragged gash in his side. Blood was steadily pouring from the wound along with some sickly looking green substance. It couldn't be infected already, could it?

"Jesus Christ, Ren, why didn't you say something?" I crawled to his side and pushed his hands out of the way.

The green substance had me worried…I didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be anything good. I pulled the remaining strips of my shirt from Ren's jacket pocket – he had been smart enough to save them, thank Kami. I used one to wipe at the green nastiness seeping from the wound, and then I made him sit up as best he could so I could tie it around his midsection to staunch the bleeding. It bled through the thin material almost immediately and had me cursing in frustration.

"Its fine Kasumi, I'll be fine."

"You can't be serious?! We need to get you out of here and soon. I think that's poison in the wound Ren…"

He tried to smile his usual cocky grin, but failed miserably, "Nothing I can't handle."

"Stop trying to be so macho, you fucking idiot."

I went back to look out of the vent grate one more time, deemed it clear, and then grabbed Ren's arm. He snatched it back petulantly, "I can still move on my own, I'm not an invalid."

"Yet," I added.

He was glaring at the back of my head, I could feel it, but it was more important that I got him out of the building than starting a petty fight. I carefully pulled the grate off, trying to be quiet and not succeeding, but time was of the essence. I hung down out of the opening, letting my body stretch towards the ground and then dropped, landing in a crouch. Ren followed suit, though his landing was not nearly as graceful as mine had been. He fell into a heap on the floor, groaning in agony.

I didn't wait for him to recover before hauling him to his feet. I was still limping, the bullet graze causing me pain along with all the other wounds I had marring my body, but I still managed to pull Ren's arm over my shoulder and support him as I walked to the door. He was much larger than me and weighed a ton, because I soon discovered that whatever was seeping out of his wound was making him weaker by the second. He was breathing heavy and leaning on me more than I liked.

As we limped to the door in a single unit I watched as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain, "I'm sorry Kasumi."

"Just shut up and walk," I snapped, trying to get him to move a little faster.

I pushed the boardroom door open slowly, so I wouldn't alert the attention of anyone that may be standing outside it, and then peered around the small opening I had made. I looked both ways down a long hall lined with many closed doors, but didn't see anyone. With the coast clear, I supported Ren through the doorway and began the slow trek down the hall.

I was headed in the opposite direction of the elevators and stairs, in the hopes I would find a fire escape or other such route I could go that would be unoccupied by the demon hoard that was below us. Each minute that passed with me searching in vain was a minute too long for Ren. He began to get heavier and heavier as we walked until I was basically supporting his entire weight. The bastard was lucky I wasn't some weak little girl.

"Goddamnit Ren, I can't carry you so stand up!"

No answer. I look to my left to see his eyes have drooped and his breathing has become slow and shallow.

"Shit!"

I look around wildly for a place to hide, anywhere I can set him down and tend to him without being caught, but each door I try is locked. The only place I could go is back to the room I was already in, but I am too late. I can hear voices not far off in the distance speaking in that same tongue I have come to know as the lizard-man's special language. I try to run, but with Ren's added weight and my injuries I am basically just dragging him and limping slightly faster than I was before. I don't make it very far before I hear the shouts behind me.

I find a service door that leads up to the sixth floor and take it, locking a heavy deadbolt that I was lucky enough to discover behind me. I hear more shouting in that garbled reptilian tongue and then loud pounding on the heavy metal door. I can see dents beginning to appear and know that even with its weight it will not hold them for long.

I pull Ren up the stairs and they're just about the death of me as I limp along. He's completely passed out by now, his breathing so slow that I have to check every few seconds to make sure he's still alive. I'm doing my best not to panic, but this situation just keeps getting worse and worse.

I make it up two flights of stairs before I find another door; I exit out of it to find myself in an identical hallway as the one down below, except for a couple of slight differences. This hall has a large bay window at its end and its dark up here, so dark I can barely see my own two feet in front of me. The only source of light is the bright red emergency exit signs posted at each end of the hall. One above the door I had just come through and one so far away I didn't know if I would make it. I had nothing to bar the door behind me, so I was left standing there like an idiot undecided on what I should do.

Any moment know those creatures are going to come barreling up those stairs and in my current state I didn't know if I could stop them. I can no longer hold up Ren, his massive weight is too much for me, and I gently let him sink to the floor. I crouch next to him, checking his vitals and his pulse is sluggish just like his breathing.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I breathe out through clenched teeth.

What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

The sound of feet, by my calculations four or more sets, come from the stairwell and I sit huddled next to Ren and just wait. All I can do is try to fight my way out of this. I check my gun for bullets, count ten out of the twelve I originally had loaded, and then clutch it tightly in my hands. I remain crouched, in the hope that the door will block me from view once they have pushed it open and I will gain the element of surprise in doing so.

I don't have to wait long.

The door is violently flung open, it misses me narrowly, and five demons come pouring out of the opening. One is massive compared to the others, so tall he must be at least seven feet, and his tail is as thick as a full grown anaconda, so heavy he cannot lift it from the ground and it is left to drag behind him. They stand in a group for a moment, looking everywhere except at me, but then the big guy turns around. His eyes land on me immediately and I pull up my gun and shoot.

I hit one demon squarely in the head and he falls, a pool of blood forming beneath him. He does not get up, leading me to believe that guns do in fact work against them. I fire off another shot before they can recover from the shock of so quickly losing a comrade and hit another in the chest, who slams against the wall and slides down it leaving a grotesque streak of blood in his wake.

By then they have recovered and the two remaining smaller demons come at me as a unit. The big one stands behind, his arms folded over his chest, and stares at me with those creepy, beady black eyes. I don't have time to let off another shot and I am too distracted to think clearly so I throw the gun aside. I take a blow to the side, the two demons are coming at me from opposite directions and I must switch my fighting from side to side.

I kick one back, sending him smashing into the wall and knocking the wind out of him. This gives me a moment to take on the other guy who is trying to rip me to shreds with his claws. I grab one of his wrists, bend it and hear a satisfying snap a second later. The demon howls in pain, clutching his arm to his chest, so turn back to the other guy who is only just barely recovering. I roundhouse kick him in the head, knocking him to the floor where he scurries away from me.

The demon with the broken wrist uses his good arm to hit me squarely in the back between my shoulder blades. It takes me a moment to get my breath back and it caused me to pitch forward toward the ground where I meet the second demons fist. He hits me straight in the chin, knocking my teeth together much the same as Yusuke had done not so long ago. I was lucky enough not to bite my tongue this time. I stumble back, remaining on my feet but in doing so I have gotten too close to my other assailant.

The one behind me hits me again, this time in my lower back, and I hear my spine crack and pray that it has not fractured. Before he can retract his fist, I reach back and grab his arm and throw him over my shoulder. I feel more than see his arm get dislocated in the process and smile in satisfaction as his body slams into the hard marble like floor beneath us.

I notice the sound of more running feet in the distance, down the opposite end of the hall, and I begin to panic. My fighting style changes to something more desperate, more dangerous as I just proceeded to pound the shit out of the two creatures. When I have mutilated their faces to the point they are unrecognizable the feet are closer and accompanied by voices. The fact they are speaking Japanese gives me no comfort because I know that the lizard-men know our language too.

I have managed to knock out or kill four of the demons…all that remained was the big bastard who had not moved the entire time. The only change in his demeanor was the giant smirk he now had spread across his ugly face. He begins to stalk toward me, forcing me to back away from him. I hear someone call my name, it echoes down the hall and comes to my ears distorted to the point I can't recognize the voice at all.

I back away until I am once again standing in front of Ren, as if I am some kind of guard dog. I take a moment to look down on him, to make sure he's still alive and I am shocked to see his eyes open. He has both his and my gun in his hands. His eyes narrow into a scathing glare and I get out of his way just in time.

He lets off two shots, one from each gun and both bullets hit the demon hard in the chest but they don't do a damn thing. He jerked at the impact but kept right on coming. Ren shoots again and again, but now the beast is running at break neck speed toward us and all of this has happened in such a short amount of time but it feels like it has taken forever.

The beast skips over Ren completely and slams into me like a defensive linemen on a football team. His shoulder hits me in the gut and I am literally flying through the air. I scream as I smash through the large bay window behind me and I know I am about to die. There is nothing for me to grab onto, nothing to save my life from the six story fall I am about to take. If I don't die, I certainly will never be able to walk again if I hit the ground from this height. I'm doomed and I know it.

All I can do is stare in horror at the busted window I had just been thrown through but my horror changes to shock, then to awe as a black clad body jumps through it and straight at me. Arms engulf me and I am surrounded by warmth so much so that for a moment I feel safe. Then I feel the rush of the wind as we plummet and I _freak the fuck out_.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I scream, because what else can I do. Hiei has just jumped from the sixth story in an attempt to save my life and he is now in the same boat as I am.

At first he doesn't answer me and I can't see his face because I'm pressed into his chest and he's holding me too tightly and I want to struggle, but don't because I know if I do I will fall….and why aren't we falling anymore?

My body is jarred as Hiei's feet slam into the side of the building opposite us and he is running up it vertically like gravity does not apply to him and then he crouches and uses his leg muscles to jump again back towards the building we had just fallen from. This goes on until he has jumped us all the way to the top of the opposite building.

He skids across gravel upon landing and then drops me like a sack of potatoes. I sit on the stones too stunned to really do or say anything. My brain is having a hard time catching up to what just occurred but it settles on one thing and one thing only – Ren.

I get up, in pain but determined, and run for the door. I tug on the handle with all my might but it is locked from the inside and won't budge. I pound on it in frustration and then turn back to my only source of escape.

"Please, you have to take me back down."

His red eyes are glowing in the darkness, his stare so intense that I have to blink and look away from him. He's silent for a long moment, just letting my panic build until I'm practically in a frenzy, pacing back and forth across the rooftop.

He finally speaks after what feels like an eternity of waiting, "You're safer here."

"You don't understand! My partner is down there, he's been injured and I need to get back to him!"

He's back to staring at me, eyes narrowed as usual, but calculating instead of deadly.

"Your partner?" He asks.

"Yes, my partner!" What was he getting at?

"As in your lover?" He says it through gritted teeth, which only confuses me, so I brush it aside for now.

"No, not my lover you idiot, my partner on the police force!"

He doesn't appreciate being called an idiot, which is immediately apparent from the death glare that he has trained on me but I'm not afraid of him. Not even when he stalks up to me so he can get in my face.

"You will remain here until someone comes to fetch you."

Oh hell no! This guy doesn't know who he's dealing with if he thinks he's going to leave me here. Anger encompasses me, so strong that I find myself revoking my previous vow not to ever put my hands on him without his permission again. I grab him by the shoulders so he can't leave me and hold on for dear life. He doesn't react the same this time, he only looks down his nose at me coldly, promising me a very painful death if I didn't retract my hands from his person. Once again, I don't pay attention to the warning signs, and somehow I get away with it.

I begin to plead with him, "Please, I need to get back to him. That thing could have ripped him apart by now!"

He snorts, "That beast is a weakling. The oaf will be able to handle it just fine."

My face scrunches up in confusion, "…The oaf?"

He purses his lips, obviously displeased with what's about to come out of his mouth, "Kuwabara."

Dread fills me and I begin to panic even more, "That's worse! How could you leave him down there!? Why are you guys here at all?!"

I told them not to come! I specifically remember telling Yusuke that he could _not_ come and I thought they would be smart enough to realize that I didn't mean just Yusuke! This was so _not okay_! Not only was my partner more than likely dead, I now had to deal with the possibility of getting my friends killed as well. How had they known where I was? How had they even gotten in considering the amount of police officers that were out front?

As the thought occurred to me I abandoned Hiei so I could rush to the other side of the rooftop and look down over the ledge. What I saw (more like what I _didn't _see) had me stumbling backwards with my head held in my hands. I fisted my hair and bit back a scream. I truly felt like I was going insane. I have never felt this many conflicting and confusing emotions before in my life.

Down below the street was empty…not a single cop car, not one patrol or squad remained. It was quiet, dark, and devoid of any life. How was that possible? How could they just abandon us in here and decide, 'oh well, let's go home guys' as if our lives didn't even matter? What about the people that had been in the building? What if some of them _were_ still alive? This went against everything I knew as a police officer and everything I had ever been taught about morality and honor. Abandoning your comrades, no matter how little a chance of survival there may be, was _unacceptable_.

In my turmoil I hadn't noticed when Hiei came to stand at my side, he pulled my hands from my hair and ripped out strands that had been caught between my fingers in doing so. I tried to wrench my hands back but he held on so easily that it made me feel like a toddler being scolded by their parents. I glared at him as harshly as I could because I just couldn't find any words to spit at him, not when I was in the middle of dealing with so many emotions at once – anger, hatred, abandonment, panic, fear.

"You need to calm yourself, baka onna."

He was still holding onto me and I used that to my advantage. He never expected for me to do what I did next and the shock on his face was almost worth what came after – _almost._

I used his hold on my arms to pull him forward and then kick him as hard as I could in the gut. He let me go and doubled over, but it lasted all of a split second. I found myself pinned to the ground, my hands held in a vice like grip above my head with Hiei straddling my waist. A bandaged fist hit me hard in the cheek reopening the wound that Yusuke had given me only a few days before. I spit blood in his face, still petulant, still angry.

He was in a rage, his eyes wild and full of hatred for me, but all I could do was smile at him cruelly. I would take the beating and more, because at least then all I would be able to think about is the pain I was in instead of the loss of my friends and comrades. Physical pain was easy…emotional pain…well, I didn't handle that as well as most people.

His fist came blurring towards me again but when he looked into my eyes…_really looked_, he was forced to stop, his fist only mere centimeters away from my cheek. He let go of me then and sat up, but didn't rise off of me. He remained straddled over my waist, his ass pinning my legs to the ground so I couldn't flail them around or kick him again. I took a moment to look him over, because I felt defeated and cold right down to my very soul and I needed something to distract myself from that.

He was wearing that weird full body cloak again; it had a red string through the middle so he could cinch it around his waist and stuffed through that was the scabbard to a katana. All I could see of the blade was its handle, which was bandaged in the same white cloth as his arm. Around his neck was a white scarf which matched the white band he kept around his forehead. A pair of black pants and boots completed the rather gothic looking outfit. Hiei was certainly an interesting man…if he didn't have such a horrible personality I would have loved to have gotten to know him better.

His forehead was glowing again, that strange purple light shining through the white of his headband and without thinking I reached up and snatched it from his head. It didn't come loose as I was hoping, but it gave me the chance to pull it up over his hair (and subsequently run my fingers through it) so I got to feel the softness of it. Its texture was nothing like how it looked. It was silky and smooth, not coarse as I had been led to believe – _weird._

He was growling at me, a vicious animalistic sound coming from between curled up lips and I caught sight of what appeared to be fangs through the snarl. Of course, that was long forgotten when I took in what had been hidden on his forehead.

Marring his perfectly smooth, tanned skin was an _eye._ Not just any eye, but a large, purple, third eye. What struck me as even more odd…was that I _knew I had seen it before._ That fucking eye…that purple fucking eye was what had taken my memory from me the night that big bastard had attacked me in the alley. That one revelation made the memory come flooding back – crystal clear and _scary as hell_.

Hiei had saved my life that night too…and here I was beating him up. What the hell was wrong with me?

I deflated like a balloon that had lost its air and my hands fell dejectedly to my sides next to Hiei's legs. I'm sure my face must look much the same – defeated, sad, and apologetic.

"I'm sorry…"

He was still glaring, but some of the anger had subsided, "Hn."

"You've saved my life twice now." I felt the need to point out. I still didn't understand his reasoning, especially because he barely knew me, so I guess I was feeling a bit of disbelief at the situation.

His eyes strayed away from me to some point above my head and I could have sworn he looked a little embarrassed but we remained in the same position, stony silence filling the air.

I was trying to figure out why he was still sitting on me when he finally spoke again, "The humans did not abandon you."

How had he known I was thinking that?

"Oh, so where are they then?"

"Koenma had their memories wiped and sent them away."

"What? How is that even possible?" Then I thought about it, "Wait, is that what you did to me?!"

"What I did to you was suppress the memories until a later time. I can't take them from you completely."

"Why the hell did you think it was okay to mess with my head?"

He shifted above me, but still didn't rise off my body. His weight was beginning to take its toll…considering his height he was certainly _all there _in the rest of the departments.

"Did you truly believe you could have handled the truth then?"

I paused…because he was right. If he had told me that night what he was I would have tried to arrest him so he could be locked up in a crazy house. Worst case scenario I would have tried to fight him…and we all know how well that would have gone.

I swallowed hard, "Is that what the eye does, alters people's memories?"

"That is only one of its powers; you need not know the rest."

I knew he would not tell me more about the eye…as freaked out by it as I was, so I went back to questioning him about the rest of the police officers who had definitely been lining the street only hours previously. No way had _that_ all been in my imagination.

"Why is Koenma involved in a police operation and how did he manage to take their memories?"

"You aren't that stupid, use your head."

He was cruising for a bruising, seriously. "Because the building is full of demons?"

He gave me a look that clearly stated how stupid he thought I was, but I ignored it. If Koenma (I wonder if I would ever get to meet this guy, or what) was involved that didn't mean anything good. If everyone that had been involved in the operation was sent away…and their memories wiped, would the same happen to me? Is that why Hiei is here? To tie up loose ends and make sure I don't go around flapping my gums to anyone who will listen?

"I won't take your memories, onna."

Something occurred to me with that little statement, "You're fucking telepathic!"

He smirked, obviously pleased with my deduction but I sure as hell wasn't, "Get the hell out of my head!"

I didn't have time to think about how it was possible or why he felt the need to read my mind, but I didn't appreciate it. There were things in there I didn't want _anyone_ knowing let alone this man.

"It is too late to worry over such trivial matters."

"So how much have you seen you nosy little bastard?!"

"Enough."

I bucked beneath him, trying to throw him off me but he just sunk down a little further, letting even more of his weight pin me to the ground. The gravel was digging uncomfortably into my back, which was already bruised as it was, so I gave up before I'd even really began. He was stronger than me, _much stronger_, and I wouldn't stand a chance of removing him. He would only get off me when he was damn well ready, even I knew that. I also knew that the only reason he hadn't gotten off me was to keep me good and distracted so I wouldn't try to scale down the building and get back to Ren.

"You're not as stupid as you look."

"Get the fuck out of my head you asshole!"

"You're only repeating yourself, why would I do that when you're so _interesting_?"

He had just admitted to something there…he thought I was _interesting_? Why? What had he seen that made him want to stay in my head?

"_Your life is not that of a normal human…"_

It came to me as an echo across my mind, filling my head with Hiei's voice and it sent shivers cascading down my spine. Not only could he read minds…he could apparently project himself into them as well. I was thoroughly creeped out by this point and wanted nothing more than for this man to get away from me. I didn't know how to defend against an intrusion into my head – it was so invasive, so personal. How could he believe he had the right to do this to me?

"…_Because you are a weak and insignificant human woman."_

"Didn't you just say you thought I was interesting? But now I'm insignificant – you're contradicting yourself." I said out loud.

I was about done with this conversation and before he could retaliate with some other irritating comment I swung at him with my right fist. As I had judged, because he was inside my head, he knew it was coming and blurred from my view. I hadn't hoped to hit him; I had just hoped to get him off me. He reappeared close by with his lips set into an unimpressed sneer.

"Yeah, fuck you too buddy," I said as I stood and brushed myself off. Little bits of glass from the window tinkled to the ground as they fell from my hair and I reached back and shook my ponytail so more would dislodge.

I pulled my hand back with a yelp to find one of my fingers starting to bleed, a tiny shard of glass protruding from my skin. I plucked it from my finger and tossed it to the ground with the rest. Like a child, I stuck the digit in my mouth to staunch the bleeding and the taste of copper flooded over my tongue. Hiei continued to stare at me through it all, his third eye still glowing, still watching, still _reading _everything I did.

He was trying his best to make me hate him that was for sure. "Cut it out," I snapped.

To my amazement I watched the purple light fade away and then he blinked it closed, covering the equally purple iris from view. I still had his headband clutched in my left hand and I was sorely tempted to keep it from him, but I wasn't that immature. I held it out at arm's length, making no effort to get any closer and just waited for him to decide whether he wanted it back or not.

He walked at a normal pace back over to me, stopped just close enough to snatch the cloth from my hand, and then proceeded to tie it back around his head.

"The fool should be up to fetch you soon. I notified the others as to your whereabouts."

He turned away from me and I lurched forward in an effort to stop him, "Hey wait – "

But before I could get another word out edge wise he was gone. A shadow blurring across the night sky and nothing more – so fast he was barely visible.

"HIEI!" I screamed to the empty air, so mad that my face must be the color of a tomato.

I stood there with my fists clenched at my sides, so tight I could feel my fingernails digging into my palms. I was so pissed that I never even noticed when Kazuma came bursting out of the door behind me, Yusuke hot on his heels.

"Where is that little bastard, I'll kill him!" The sudden loudness of Kazuma's voice startled me and I whirled around with a scream, but not like the rage filled one previously, oh no. This came out high pitched and girly and instantly had my already flushed cheeks heating up even further.

Yusuke's guffaws, accompanied by Kazuma's suppressed snorting, had me burying my face in my hands. I noticed Kurama in the background, having remained behind to hold the door open so it wouldn't lock again, also covering his lips in an attempt not to laugh at me. Kami, couldn't a girl get any respect around here?

"Shut up you idiots, just shut up!" I said, too frustrated and frazzled to give a damn if I was being rude.

"Where's Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

"Gone," was all I said, because what else could I tell them? It wasn't like he told me where he was going, the asshole.

I had higher priorities than Hiei's whereabouts anyway, "Kazuma, where's Ren?"

"He's okay, Kas, don't worry." He reassured me and it was then that I noticed he was covered in bruises and blood, some obviously his own but most of it foreign.

"What about you, are you alright?" Before he could answer I thought of something else, "And what about that monster?!"

"I'm fine and it's dead." He said simply.

My mouth fell open in disbelief and some kind of gurgled something or other came tumbling out, not even understandable to my own ears.

"Seriously, I'm fine. That guy was chump change." He chuckled and then came over to slap me on the back.

I yelped and curled in on myself, the adrenaline had long since worn off and now I was feeling all the effects of my most recent beating.

"Hey…you're not okay though. Come on; let's get back home so Botan can patch you up."

"But Ren…where is he?"

"Kurama made an antidote for the poison he was hit with, have I told you how much of a useful bastard he is?"

"Get to the point, I can tell that he's useful!"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "After we gave him the antidote one of Koenma's men wiped his memory and took him to a hospital."

"Koenma's men?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah…he has a police force of his own I guess you could call it."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and began to lead me towards the stairs. Yusuke fell into step beside us and Kurama behind him once we had passed through the threshold of the doorway and started our trek downward.

When we reached the bottom Kazuma stopped me by placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me dead in the eye.

"I know you've been through a lot in the past couple of days…" he paused, clearly uncomfortable. "But I need you to promise not to tell anyone about this."

"You mean I can't bring it up at work?"

"No…and even if you did they won't remember it. It will only make you look crazy."

"Okay, I get it. I promise I won't say anything."

"Not even to Ren," he says sternly.

"Not even to Ren," I repeat.

"Good, thank you Kasumi-chan."

I roll my eyes, I'm irritated but it wasn't like I didn't understand where he was coming from. It was for my protection as much as theirs. I was beginning to come up with some conclusions on what exactly Yusuke and Kazuma did for work – be it paying or otherwise. They knew quite a bit about the supernatural, I had known Kazuma was sensitive to these kinds of things since the day I met him.

He had a funny way of predicting things, or sensing things: he was very much like my sister. I suppose that is what drew me to him in the first place. He was open, caring, brave but kind. Hitomi was all of those things and more – she was everything good. Whereas I…I was the opposite, a real glass half empty kind of girl. Hitomi made us equal out, always providing me with support and love I never felt I deserved. I loved my sister and I was always there to protect her…but I wasn't _always there for her._ I offered her no emotional support, because I just don't know how to deal with it. I can hug you until your blue in the face, but coming up with the right words to make you feel better is beyond me.

Now, as I stared into my friend's face filled with concern for me, I felt myself break apart just a little more inside. Why had we been so much different…and why couldn't I find her when I needed her the most? She could explain things – make me understand the insanity I had been thrown into. She had always been able to see them, had known about demons and the supernatural long before I ever even caught on. And Kazuma was _just like her._

"Is this what you do, Kazu?"

He was clearly confused, "Huh?"

"You're some servant to God?"

"I wouldn't put it like that…" He mumbled.

"You fight evil for God, that's what you do? This is fucking insane."

I skirt around him so I can pace up and down a small length of the hallway, my hands wrapped around my midsection, and eyes flicking around the room nervously.

"It's like something out of a comic book Kazu!" I stop to yell at him.

But before I can dig into him further, Yusuke steps forward. "We're demon hunters…or well, I am anyway. I just call these guys in for backup."

"That's not any better!" I shout.

"And if you hunt them, why are you working with two?!" I add.

"Because they're not evil – not everything is black and white, Kasumi."

The wisdom of those words had me snapping my mouth shut. I hadn't expected it from Yusuke, but then again, I didn't know him well enough to be making such snap judgments.

I didn't completely believe him though, "I could see it with Kurama, but not _Hiei_."

Yusuke sighs, "Hiei isn't exactly the nicest guy I've ever met, but there's more to him than you know."

"Like what?"

"Get to know him and you'll see. It isn't my place to tell."

I want to hit him, I really do, but I keep myself in check and start to pace again instead. I highly doubted I would have the opportunity to get to know Hiei and I was perfectly fine with that. It also struck me that Yusuke and Keiko were perfect for each other: hadn't she told me the same exact thing just the other day? 'It isn't my place to tell,' well I was sick of hearing that, especially when the only person who could tell you anything is a stubborn bastard.

I didn't want to think about Hiei anymore, I just wanted to go home. I was sore, tired, and injured (also whiney and pissed off) and in dire need of a bath. I hoped to Kami I would not have to fight anymore demons on the way home, because I might just die from sheer exhaustion.

"What was going on in the other building anyway?" I was talking mostly to myself, but I got an answer for my efforts.

"They were looking for something in the basement…" said Kurama. "But when they discovered you inside their priorities changed."

"So this has something to do with earlier then?"

"We are assuming that it does, yes."

My lips turned into a thin line of displeasure, I liked it even less that I was being kept in the dark about my situation, especially now that my work has become involved in the whole mess.

"What were they looking for?"

"Now that I cannot tell you," he tried to smile at me reassuringly, so I would believe nothing was wrong, but I wouldn't be fooled so easily.

"You know something," I say.

"Please do not misunderstand me; I make no remarks against your intelligence. I simply am not _allowed_ to divulge that information to you."

"This is bullshit, I hope you know!"

"Yes, I am inclined to agree."

I had nothing to say to that and so I turned on my heels and marched off, demons be damned. I could probably muster up enough strength to beat the crap out of a few more. If one of those happened to be Hiei, I wouldn't be adverse to it.

"Hey, wait up Kasumi!" I heard Kazuma call behind me, but I kept right on walking.

I thought about going to check on Ren in the hospital, but it was late and they probably wouldn't allow visitors at this time. I slowed my gait, less so the boys could catch up to me and more because I was just so tired that I felt ready to collapse. The amount of stress my body and head had been put through today was more than most people could properly handle. I didn't even know how I was still standing at this point. I'd been thrown out of a window for fuck sakes, not to mention beat up and shot.

I felt Kazuma and the others draw up behind me, slowing so their pace matched mine. No one tried to talk to me, but Kazu did take my hand into his big, but warm, palm. I appreciated the little bit of support and let him lead me out of the building.

I stepped out into a desolate street in the wee hours of the morning, the sun still asleep, and the lights of the city just the same as they had always been. I felt different though, so different that I didn't even recognize my surroundings. The chaos of earlier was long gone and what was left behind was just…_nothing._ Whoever had come to put a stop to the earlier incident had wiped everything clean. There was still the damage to the building to account for…but I suppose they had done something to explain that away too.

The fact these people had so much power washed over me sharply and the realization that I could have died tonight, that many people could have, had me falling to my knees in the middle of the street. My legs were too weak to support me now but when Kazuma and Yusuke rushed to my side to help me up I knew then that having these people as my allies, if not my friends, should be something I am forever thankful for. Whether they ever decided to tell me what was going on in their world or not, they had saved my life tonight – Hiei included.

As Kazuma hauled me up into his truck, Kurama climbing into the passenger seat and Yusuke into the bed, I allowed myself to stop thinking and just listened to the sounds of the truck as it drove through the night. Today had been _one hell of a day_.

**. . .**

**A/N: **So this is my favorite chapter so far, I've had this one planned for months. I hope everyone else will love it too! I also hope you all had a very happy holiday, mine was wonderful. I will get started on the next chapter right away, so until next time! Thanks for reading!


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